But now for the real reason that I got on: I Am Legend. Those of you who know me and have watched this movie may be a bit surprised that I watched it. For those of you who don't know me, I hate scary movies; I'm so jumpy even in slightly intense scenes. Granted, this movie is not a horror movie; it has a good story line and a good ending. It's not even technically scary, but it's so intense that it's pushing it. In fact, it's about one step too intense for me, and if I had known what it was going to be like, I don't think I would have watched it. In retrospect, however, I am glad I watched it (as stated by the title of this post), and here's why:
Ok, so I'm sometimes just a little weird. I often think in allegories. This is not just now and then, but quite often. In fact, if I have known you for any length of time, I have probably considered a conversation that we have had, or something you have done, alagorizing it into something having to do with the spiritual life. As I thought about I Am Legend, it struck me that there is a powerful allegory in the movie. Now understand that no allegory is perfect, and you will of course see many short-comings in this parallel, but the power of allegories is that they bring big things down to the level at which we comprehend. So bear with me if you please.
For those of you who haven't watched the movie, a virus had been tailored to cure cancer, but then it mutated and either killed or crazed its hosts. It became airborne and so infected almost everyone in the world except for a very few who were immune.
When I watched this movie, I was completely appalled by the people infected by the virus. They are disgusting, horrible, pitiable, and terrifying. They come by night and kill everything they can get a hold of for food. They posses horrible brute strength without any mental capacity. They are ferocious and merciless. They are terrible monsters. By the middle of the movie, I was sick to my stomach. I was almost in tears, not because any part of the movie had touched me (my sister is more sensitive to that) but because of how much I did NOT want to watch the movie any more. However, I went a head and finished it because one, I had promised my sister I would watch whatever movie she brought home, and two, you always hope that the end of a movie will bring closure and give you something nice to think about instead of the scary parts. After the movie, I was thinking over it, as one tends to do, and the thought popped into my head: "That's me." Guys, that's what we look like before a holy God. We are completely depraved. We were made to be people, beautiful images of the glory of God. But we were infected with a horrible disease that we COULD NOT stop. This disease took over our entire bodies and minds. We lived only in darkness, shunning the light. We did not know wrong from right, only the instinct of self preservation.
There's another part of the parallel. Will Smith plays a research doctor who is the lone survivor in New York city (and for all he knows, the world). He is immune to the virus. He goes around the city collecting food for himself and his dog, and attempting to find a cure for this virus. At the end of the movie he finally does, but in order for the cure to have any chance of helping anyone, he must sacrifice his life. Hopefully no one will accuse me of blasphemy if I observe that these attributes are very like Jesus'. Jesus was perfect. The despicable virus of sin could not reach Him. He could have gone His merry way and helped only Himself. But He didn't. He chose to walk among us, those self same dirty, despicable, disgusting creatures because He knew what we were supposed to be like. He new how beautiful we could be and so came to give us a cure. But this cure did not come easily. Jesus Christ "devoted His life to finding a cure, and... gave His life to defend it."
This parallel comes to its epitome near the end of the movie when Will Smith realises that he has found a cure for the virus. He looks desperately at the crazed, murderous creatures through a pane of bullet-proof glass and shouts, "I can save you! I can help you, just stop!" But of course they can not understand him; they are just animals. They begin to violently thrust their bodies against the glass, slowly cracking and eventually breaking it so that they can come through to kill him. Again, this is us. We desperately needed help. Wallowing in our sins, despicable, terrible, but the most awful part was that this virus had so effected our minds that we didn't know we needed help, and we could not even recognize the Holy One who could give it to us. What a tragedy!
But praise the Lord, Will Smith is not Jesus. Please understand, I do not mean a discourtesy toward the man. I simply mean that Jesus did not have to look helplessly at people that He knew how to save. Jesus is God, and he did not have to cower before our brutish selves. He walked among us, touched us, healed us. Yes, He died to save us, but He didn't stay dead! Jesus saved us from our deplorable, wretched state, and He stands ALIVE to prove it!!!!
Now just in case, I have lost anyone in my ramblings, let me summarize: "I Am Legend" gave me a better (not perfect) understanding of my own depravity, of what exactly it meant for Jesus to come down to be with us. Truly that kind of Saviour deserves all of my devotion! "I Am Legend" has helped me to love my Jesus more, and that's why I'm glad I watched "I Am Legend."
(BTW, props if you actually read all of that!)
My Sin, Oh the Bliss of this Glorious thought,
My Sin, not the part but the Whole
Is nailed to the Cross,
And I bear it NO MORE!
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Oh my Soul.
