I was captured by the character of Jamie Fraser in Outlander during the Season One episode of ‘The Devil’s Mark’.
If you have no idea what TV show I’m talking about, you can read about it here, and you may like to binge fest this Easter weekend on Netflix to catch up with those of us that are big fans of the show. (Also I will warn you, if you’ve never watched the show, I have disclosed some parts of season one for the purpose of this Easter post.)
Usually I can tell you where in a story I come to like a character. Sometimes it can take one episode or one chapter and other times it can take a fair few. It took a few episodes for me to see the pull of Jamie’s character in Outlander. I couldn’t understand the hype from those that were Jamie fans.
But there was one particular scene in the TV series that was a turning point for me as I got to understand Jamie’s heart. It was his ‘aha moment’ immediately after his new wife’s confession that had me join the thousands of women worldwide who crush (is that the right word?) on the curly, red-haired Scotsman.
The series of books and now popular TV series is based on the simple story of a combat nurse called Claire Randall who in 1945 finds herself transported back to the Scotland of 1743. She unexpectedly travels through stones while on a second honeymoon with her husband Frank in Scotland. The story develops as we follow Claire in her attempts to get herself back to her time. But a series of events finds her marrying a highland warrior, Jamie Fraser, to save her life.
The turning point for my fixation on Jamie Fraser was immediately after he rescued Claire from being beaten for being a tried as a witch in court. It was the moment in the woods where Claire told her husband her ‘witch’s mark’, on her upper arm, was a scar from her small pox vaccination which she had received from the future. When Jamie heard about where Claire had come from, he not only believed her, he showed remorse as he realised he had punished Claire for disobeying him, when she had been trying to get back to her own time. Once he realised his mistake, he was upset and apologetic for hitting her.
Claire consoled her husband, and tearfully explained he wasn’t to have known what she had just told him.
But Jamie still felt the weight of his actions. He had hit his innocent wife, and his reaction after realizing his error was the moment I jumped onto team Jamie.
Jamie’s reaction is one that is rarely displayed in public. (Unless it’s been caught out by the media). A public display of shame is often shared because one’s been caught out from doing the wrong thing, not always acknowledging the wrong they have done. But acknowledging our faults is something we must display if we want to be in right relationship with God.
I have come face-to-face with my own personal shortcomings. And in those moments, I’ve had to make a decision. To arrogantly ignore what I’ve recognized in myself and allow pride to defend my actions, or acknowledge my guilt and shame, and confess my failings to God.
And the wonderful thing is, God doesn’t want to leave me feeling guilty and shamed. He wants me to live in the freedom and forgiveness, made possible when Jesus died on the cross.
This is why the Easter message is so powerful. God could have told humanity – go fend for yourself, you effed up. He could have ghosted us – like many of us do when someone does the wrong thing to us (and they are immediately given the silent treatment).
But instead, He responded with love and forgiveness.
The Easter message should be an ‘aha’ moment for humanity. A moment where we contemplate what God has done for us and the significance of Jesus dying on a cross.
Where the innocent was beaten and crucified for our transgressions.
Our aha moment should be time to understand the grace God has given us and the lengths he went to to restore us to Himself.
As a result of Easter, I don’t want to miss the future God has in store for me, hence why I have faith and believe in the cross.
So this Easter, it’s my prayer that you have your own ‘aha moment’ with God and the message of Easter. Be open to hearing from Him. May you know how deeply you are loved, and be reflective on the incredible sacrifice that was made possible because of His love.
The real test of someone’s love towards you is their reaction in time of need, and God’s reaction was one that went beyond human understanding. Sacrificing a son, to save the many. While there are many hurts that we continue to face in this lifetime because of sin, our future is sealed for better things because of Jesus’s death on the cross.
That truly is an aha moment worth contemplating.
