Les Miserables was a movie that I had wanted to see for months - Matt agreed to take me, and we decided that tonight was as good as any to go see it. I had seen SO many Facebook posts about how people cried while watching this movie, and I thought to myself, "Oh, I probably won't cry, and I won't make a big deal out of the movie." Well, guess what... I teared up, and I geeked out with my friends over video chat afterwards.
I think what makes this movie (and the story in general) so popular and so well-loved by many is that it doesn't guarantee a happy ending, it's more realistic, and many elements of it were incredibly relatable. I think what makes it such a great movie altogether was the fact that I saw a number of things that related to my own walk with Christ.
First of all, Jean Valjean (main character) was convicted of a crime and served 19 years in slavery/imprisonment for it. We are all slaves to sin, from the moment we are born. Even though Jean Valjean became a free man after he served his time, he wasn't really free. He had to carry a piece of paper that told others what he had done and who he was. It was his mark of shame. That's like sin in our lives - even though we can try to free ourselves from the bondage of sin, we can't. There is nothing we could do to ever get rid of it ourselves. It is the mark of a human being.
Jean Valjean then is saved by a kind and merciful priest who brought him into his dwelling and provided him with food and drink. Even though Jean Valjean tried to steal from him and was brought back to him by soldiers, the priest was still kind to him and freed him from the soldiers' hands (and the possibility of having to go back into slavery). That is like God with us - He is a loving, merciful God who, even when we fail Him and sin against Him, for those who are His, we are not only pardoned, but continually being loved no less than if we hadn't sinned against Him. However, also like the priest to Jean Valjean, God challenges us to go out into the world and be lights for the Kingdom in a very dark, hopeless world. Jean Valjean then becomes convicted of what he has done and vows to bring justice and mercy to the world and start over - "Jean Valjean is no more!" He puts his past behind him, and starts over.
Years down the road, Valjean becomes mayor of a town in France (don't remember exactly where) and owns his own factory, all under another identity and name. He treats all of the people who work for him and everyone else with decency, respect, gentleness, and mercy. He rescues a man from an accident, and a woman named Fantine from the life of prostitution, then vows to raise her little daughter. He is the model of how a true believer of Christ ought to act. Micah 6:8 says, "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Valjean was always merciful and just, even to Javert who never paid him any kindness: the hardest to love and be merciful to. He was humble in his acts of mercy and kindness; he never boasted about anything he did.
Going back to Fantine, she is another example of one enslaved by sin, but in another way. She chose the lifestyle she lived, but after a point, she felt trapped and couldn't escape it. She couldn't escape it on her own; she needed help. Jean Valjean rescued her and got her to a hospital to be cared for, only for her to die soon after. However, she was free from the life she had lived, and the little bit of life she lived after he rescued her, was changed because of his kindness. Our mercy and kindness to others can change their lives and can be such a light to them, too, if we humble ourselves enough to help them.
When Javert told the mayor (Valjean) about him catching who he thought was Jean Valjean, Valjean debated with himself whether to confess and let the other man go free. He could confess and be condemned, or stay silent and be damned. He comes to the realization that he couldn't hide his real identity and his past forever and that he couldn't let an innocent man be condemned and live the life that he lived. His faith in God gave him the strength to be truthful even when it was incredibly hard to be so.
Javert is another character I want to dig into. I think I had the most sympathy for him, more than anyone else in the movie. I know it's weird, but I'll explain why. You'll notice that he is always doing what is right in his own eyes. Every villain does, if you think about it. Javert claimed to be a follower of God, too, but not a real one: he thought he was more righteous than most others, by carrying out the law. He was just, but he was not merciful or humble. He always looked down on others for their crimes, their past, or their living conditions. If they have brought themselves to this life that they are currently living, then they have fallen from grace altogether and don't deserve mercy; the law is more important. I sympathize most with him, because he fell for the lie of legalism, and I fell into that trap years ago myself. Following the rules was more important than anything else. Not much love and compassion for others. Thank God I have been redeemed and saved by grace, and my life has hope . . . unlike Javert's fate.
So . . . "Who am I?" I ask myself like Valjean does in the story. I am Jean Valjean in the sense that I am a follower of Christ with a past, that has been saved by grace through faith, trying to live a life of obedience to God. I am Fantine, because I chose the lifestyle that I lived, and I couldn't get myself out of it, but God had mercy on me and pulled me out of it, changing my life forever. I am Javert, because even though I no longer live a life of legalism, I still have tendencies every now and then and still am in need of grace even though my pride is very large.
I am a simple human being, a believer, a continually humbled woman. Lord, let me live a life of justice, mercy, and humility. Never let me forget the beauty of His free gift of salvation, by grace and through faith alone.
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