As he flips through the cards, he becomes filled with shame over all the time he’s wasted and all the mistakes he’s made. Overcome with desperation, he tries to destroy the cards so no one may ever see them but the feat was impossible. He begins to cry, feeling mortified, and then Jesus walks in. He signs His name in His blood over each card, taking every sin upon Himself.
It’s a week after Pentecost, over 50 days past Easter. After reading the article, I was filled with a renewed sense of the promises of the Resurrection.
I strongly related to the narrator’s feeling of shame and guilt. I felt the same shock in realizing that every moment, the good, the bad and the worst, have been seen by God and there is no way of hiding anything from His eyes. I recounted every shameful moment and felt a lot of self-pity. Yet, in the embarrassment, Christ reveals Himself.
Jesus, though always with us, comes in the times when we reach our lowest points. In that moment of shame, there were two roads that the narrator could have taken: the road of reconciliation or the road of no return. Jesus stretches out His hand and we can choose to accept Him.
It would be so easy to block Jesus out and never allow Him to take our place in death and suffering. But Jesus wants us to be with Him in paradise and so He willingly offers Himself up to be a pleasing sacrifice, in exchange for us to be without sin. His blood washes away all evil.
Sometimes I find it difficult to wrap my mind around the idea that God would send His only Son to die for my sake. I never focus on the fact that even if I was the only person on Earth, Jesus would still willingly die for my salvation. And yet, that is the real truth of God’s unimaginable love and grace.
Imagining Jesus signing His name over mine, for every sin and every mistake, in His blood, made me discover more deeply the promises of Easter, of redemption and of life everlasting.
We don’t need to make a sacrifice anymore, for the perfect lamb was surrendered in payment for the destruction of human sin. The image of the Lord scratching out my name and taking my place brought a different perspective to the visual of Christ hanging on the cross with the weight of the sins of the whole world.
Reflecting on “The Room,” I came to re-evaluate the progression of my life’s journey. The article also reminded me that even though Easter is behind us, the truth and promises of Easter carry onward.
Just as Jesus led the narrator out of the room, so He leads us.
(Quadros, 17, is a Grade 11 student at Holy Name of Mary Catholic Secondary School in Brampton, Ont.)