My daughters recently took me to see World War Z. We had a great time sitting on the edge of our seats the entire movie. Similar to I am Legend, it presented a plausible (though exaggerated) scenario in which a life altering virus spread worldwide.
Later, we discussed the parallel between the movie and the story of Jesus. The nemesis in World War Z was a virus that infected people taking over their personal identity, destroying all trace of individuality and humanity. Jerry Lane, played by Brad Pitt was the hero racing against time to find a solution. It didn’t matter how good or bad a person was, the sickness affected anyone it inhabited. The infected beings’ purpose was only to consume and survive. All mankind was on the brink of destruction.
The virus is a picture of sin, which robs it’s host of identity and purpose. Like sin, hunger and sounds of LIFE appeared to be the only stimuli that motivated the walking dead. When alerted by sound, the zombies appetite to consume “uninfected ones” kicked in, driving them to a frenzied race to devour.
The virus of sin surrounds us. It’s everywhere, including IN us. With so many distractions calling for our attention, we are challenged to see the things going on IN us. Think of about it. How often do you get totally alone in absolute quiet? I’m not talking about alone with a good book or at your computer. I mean ALONE. It’s uncomfortable. Almost as soon as we come to a place of total silence, doing nothing, we become restless, maybe even agitated.
Could it be that the very nature of sin residing in us (though far more controlled then that of flesh eating zombies), deters us from being still enough to recognize we are living to consume, consuming to survive? Isn’t there more to life than that?
There IS so much more! In order to fully see it, we’ve got to be completely free from the power of sin.
Pitt’s character re-presented what Christ did for us when he took a virus upon himself. He put his own life on the line for the sake of humanity. He proceeded to walk fearlessly, unhindered among the “zombies”. They had no power over him!
In the same manner, Jesus took upon himself the very thing that would destroy us to provide the antedote to the inherent virus of sin in each of us. Unlike Brad Pitt, Jesus did what no one else could do.; he BECAME the solution for our condition, he is the very thing we consume to find our unique identity and purpose.
When we are “inoculated” with Christ, we’re not free from the presence of sin. Instead, we gain power OVER it. As Pitt’s character recognized, we also find our purpose is fulfilled in caring more for those around us than for ourselves.