Redemption

One of the most popular movies in the last several decades is “The Shawshank Redemption.” For those who have not seen it, the basic plot is about a man named Andy who has been wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. However, after a number of years, he is able to escape.

The main focus is mostly between ostensible criminal Andy and the Warden, who presents himself as a godly man. The dichotomy here is that each man’s true actions are the opposite of what they are purported to be outwardly.

The Warden, for example, is anything but godly, purposely and repeatedly breaking the 10 Commandments he espouses. The irony of the situation between the two is obvious but there is yet more found in the details throughout.

Case in point, after Andy’s escape, the Warden finds his Bible in his cell. At the beginning, the Warden had given it to him and told him, “Salvation lies within.” Opening it now, he finds the cut-out space inside that hid the small rock hammer used for the escape. Appropriately enough, the first intact page he sees is the title page for the book of Exodus. But as the title implies, the film is not so much about escape and physical salvation as it is about the redemption of one’s earthly life.

One definition of “redemption” is the act of acquiring/reacquiring ownership by satisfying the debt owed for the same. In the Bible, Jesus is put on trial for this very thing.

The Roman Governor Pontius Pilate is trying to quell the angry crowd before him by offering up the freedom of one of the two men beside him who are both condemned to death. The first is Barabbas, convicted of robbery, violent rebellion and murder. His own self-justification for killing was for the “freedom” of himself and his people, many of whom were also his victims.

The other is Jesus, innocent of any crimes whatsoever, who had come to offer true freedom and salvation, both in the temporal and the eternal world.

The irony of the choice set before the people is found within their names - guilty Barabbas, whose name literally translates to “son of the father,” and Jesus, the Son of the Father.

Although it may not seem so at first, the choice offered to them is not entirely dissimilar to that which we have today. Namely, do we choose to trust in ourselves to somehow “buy” or “win” our own temporal and eternal freedoms through our own deeds, if that were even possible, or do we trust in our Redeemer, who stood in our place, and has already paid the price we owed with His very own life? The choice is yours.

“ And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21: 27, 28