Easter Special: The Stranger (Part 2)

You just killed an innocent man.

Your wails and cries of pain soon join His own. You don't care who hears you sobbing, your heart has just been torn out. You realize now that the man you sent to die is the One who can help you live. And you've just killed Him. Now you have no hope of living. He is experiencing what you will at the end of your sad existence, but in a much more brutal way, and much sooner. You are sorry. You chose wrong; freedom is out of reach now.

The angry onlookers grow silent after a few hours. Their voices hoarse from jeering, they are content to just look on as they watch their victim bleed out and die. He wasn't offered lethal injection; He was just brutalized and His sinless body molested by sinful hands until He died. Finally, He draws His last breath, and that's when the power cuts off.

No one knows what is going on. The guards immediately start lockdown procedures, locking all the doors in the prison. Panic ensues. Sirens peel through the darkness. The intermittent red glare of the siren lights are the only light that are in the prison, throwing scary red shadows amidst the dank cold walls. No one can see and everyone is pushing and shoving each other out of the way. Some get trampled in the frenzy.

The guards taze, nightstick, and restrain all those they can. The others get sent to their cells immediately, where everyone waits anxiously. Hours pass, and bloodshot eyes stare at the walls, unblinking and unseeing. The siren lights cast their shadows eerily in silence; the wails of the sirens have since turned off.

After some time, you hear the buzz of the electronic locks of several doors opening, but only for certain cells. You hear your own lock buzz open. A voice cries out, "You are forgiven, now quickly, follow me to freedom!" 

Hesitantly you rise from your bunk with tear stained cheeks, uncertain of what is going on. Some inmates, those you recognize as the Stranger's followers, also look confused. You and the others step out of the halls, and in front of you, the gate-check doors open one by one. The buzz-click-swing action of each door stuns everyone. Then the voice speaks again, and tells you to hurry up. As one, you and the other followers sprint through the doors as they swing open in front of you.

No guards stand in your way. The doors seem to sense your approach and open to allow you access to places in the prison you haven't seen before. The employee areas, the offices, the bathrooms, it's all vacant. Where have they gone?

You and the others sprint through the final checkpoint and into the dark, cold night air. You look above you and see the stars twinkling in the distance, welcoming you to freedom. You didn't choose this. Maybe there is more to freedom than choice, and you wonder if Freedom can find you instead.

A line of SUVs pull up the drive and stop in front of you. A man in a white suit jacket steps out, puts His hand on your shoulder, and says, "Welcome home, my friend. You were once of me and now you are once again with me. I love you."

You are astounded. The memories of so long ago come flooding back. This Man who grips your shoulder is the One who convicted you! And He says that He loves you? You are too choked up for words, so He sits you and the others in the SUVs, and drive down the long, winding road until you reach the highway. You stare out the window amazed that everything is so vacant; so void of life. There are no houses or buildings in good condition; they have since fallen into disrepair. The Prosecutor explains that Death grabbed hold of all it could, and everyone has sinned. That's why He had to send His Son, to reclaim His Beloved; to reclaim YOU.

The drive back seems like a short one. You are deep in thought over all that has passed today, and it all seems like an eternity ago. When you finally reach your destination, the Prosecutor lays you in one of His many guest rooms, and tells you to sleep. Wearied, you fall fast asleep.

You wake up the next morning. You are surprised you slept so soundly. The night went by quickly. You dress and walk downstairs. You hear snores from the other rooms and assume you are the first to awake. You are wrong.

The Prosecutor is sitting at the table as you enter the kitchen. He watches a small television screen, with the local news playing on it. He weeps silently, and as you approach Him, you see what the news is portraying.

It's the security camera footage from the prison. Being a compilation of the footage of the past few days, you see yourself spitting on the stranger, and then beating Him. You see the guards take Him away. And you see the crowd condemn and murder the stranger. You hadn't seen this before, and you start weeping with your Prosecutor.

He hears you and turns around, looks into your eyes, and softens His face when He sees your pain reflects His own. Although you won't be able to understand the loss of His Son, He knows you lost a Friend. He stands, pushes the chair back, and wraps you in His embrace. You sob there together, quietly, in a stark white kitchen. 

Then the Prosecutor whispers into your ear: "You are forgiven, and I love you."

The sobs that shake your entire body make you choke for breath. How can the Host who sent you to Death's jail, and watched you kill His Son, forgive you? Who can love so deeply and wonderfully like He does? You sit down on the couch to ponder these things.

The morning passes slowly. The other freed inmates walk downstairs, one by one, shell-shocked by the events from yesterday. Some rock in the fetal position and cry. Some twiddle their thumbs with blank expressions. Some pace nervously in the corner, wondering if the guards will find them in the safe house. Everyone fears what will happen when Death's agents come searching for them.

Sometime after noonday, the Host gathers you all in the family room. He reassures you that no one will come to take you away from Him. Ever. You are safe, because you bear the name of the Host. The price has been paid for your life, and so you no longer need to live in that penitentiary again. In addition, He says you can rest the next few days at His house to catch up on sleep and reflect on the events of yesterday.

The house remains silent as introspection carries on. The days pass slowly, interrupted only by meals and spotty sleep. Rest eludes most, and the few that can sleep are riddled with nightmares and wet the bedsheets with a cold sweat.

That evening, the grave site of the Stranger is displayed on the news. It's an unmarked stone, made of unfinished granite. More of a rock, really. You think that the Stranger deserves more than that for a headstone.

The next day, you walk into the kitchen and the television displays breaking news on the screen. Interested, you peer at the monitor. The announcer speaks of a mysterious exhumation of the stranger, an act probably committed by some radical inmates to make it look as if the Stranger had risen from the dead. The announcer goes on to denounce such claims and ends his segment by speaking of the preposterousness of the whole ordeal. 

You shut off the television and sit in silence. The memories of sitting at the weights bench, eavesdropping on the Stranger's teachings, come rushing back. He spoke of dying often, but He also spoke of rising again. You always discredited such talk previously, but after all that has happened, you aren't so sure. You try and remember His exact words, but you can't seem to. You curse yourself for not listening closer.

You and the inmates laze around the house again. The boredom mingles with fear and is starting to get to you all, as the guilt and regret drives further into your hearts. Also, you fear for your lives because SURELY the guards are out there, searching for you, despite what the Host may say. They might kill you just like they did with the Stranger. Some want to leave the safe house, and others want to stay. No one knows the right course of action.

A firm knock on the door breaks the silence. Many jump, because they haven't heard a thing besides the soft drone of the news and the shuffling of feet the past few days. The Host answers the door, and walks into the room, His arm around His Son.

You turn to face the Stranger, stunned to see Him standing before you. He has scars where He was cut and hurt by the crowd, and His lip is still swollen and split from where you first hit Him. The Stranger's piercing eyes cut through yours and understanding floods His face. A tear rolls down His cheek, and He reaches out for His Beloved. You stand, and embrace Him for all your worth, not wanting to let Him go.

Through the Stranger's sobs, He manages to eek out: "You're home, son. You're home." He seems happier that you are home than you are to see Him alive. 

That evening a huge celebration is had. Music, food, and festivities carry on throughout the night. Many are more stunned than anything to find the One they killed standing before them, but you can only smile. You remembered His words of resurrection and you know that He had died and that His is indeed alive now.

After a week or so, the Stranger says He needs to leave. The Host had left the safe house a while ago and the Stranger needed to join Him. However, the Stranger asked the converted inmates, including yourself, to find other jails. To walk into those prisons, speak of all you had seen and heard, and convince others to follow Him. He tells you that you are forever free because of His sacrifice, and no one can take that freedom from you. You will not be jailed again, but you do need to help others who are jailed, and show them the way out. And then He drives away, the dust billowing behind His white SUV; but not before promising His return.

Many of the convicts are horrified at this. They vow to never enter a prison again, and walk out of the door, never to be seen again. You don't really care where they went, because all you want to do is listen to the Stranger and follow His word. So you and the remaining followers split into groups and draw up a plan. You find a map, circle the prisons in red pen, and travel to each separately in your groups.

You are spit on, beaten, and bruised. The guards seek to hold you in each prison you enter, but miraculously you always get out. Some inmates hate you, but everyday new followers follow you to the safe house, where they can hear the whole story of their redemption. And everyday, while you battle to follow the Stranger's words and save others, you look forward to the day when you can stand in His presence once again.

Your life is one of service. You enter the prisons you once despised, avoid the guards, and spread the news of the Stranger. You help those who need it, and head to the safe house for the fellowship with your fellow followers that encourage you and build you up. Each day folds into the other, and you find happiness and fulfillment in the service the Stranger has given you to. This is the purpose of your life: to spread the news of the Stranger, who, in love, liberated your life from Death.