Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Jack's the Man... sort of.

Jack Bauer is the man! Well sort of. Jesus is really the man. But I must admit that Jack's story does try to emulate Jesus in certain things. I don't imagine the writers of the famed "24" series thought about the parallells between Jack Bauer's day and a day in the life of Jesus when they came up with the idea for the show, but the parallells are there, interspersed within the stories. You just have to look a little carefully.

I really like the episode in season 1 when Teri and Kim Bauer are held hostage in a barn awaiting their death sentence. Cowered in the corner and flinching at every sound, Teri suddenly calms herself. Realizing that Jack will do whatever it takes to rescue them, and knowing that until that time she must be strong for both Kim and herself she says these reassuring words to Kim, "I'm trying to explain to you what a simple, powerful thing my love for you is! No matter how bad things get or how good they get, that's not going to change, I just don't know how to do anything but love you."

Hold up. Time out. Those words aren't original to Teri. Jesus expressed that sentiment long before Teri Bauer's "creators" ever came up with that line. He says: "I have loved you with an everlasting love." And then to prove it, God became a baby, subjected Himself to the ridicule of His creation, and then died on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He exchanged His life for ours. It sounds too good to be true. It's almost as fantastic a tale as Jack breaking out of the most unlikely situation and rescuing Teri and Kim. But it happened. You can take comfort in that fact today. No matter what you're going through, He doesn't know how to do anything but love you. The question is: will you receive His love?

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