Prison Breaks

The island of Alcatraz is over a mile offshore in San Francisco Bay. For years, this rock was also the site of a federal prison. Some tried to escape, but no one is known to have been successful because of swift ocean currents, cold water, and sharks.

The Bible, however, records miraculous escapes from seemingly impossible conditions. The first one is recorded in Acts 12. King Herod arrested the Apostle Peter and planned to publicly execute him the following day. To ensure Peter’s captivity, that night he was chained to two guards and two sentries stood outside his door.

Sound asleep, he was awakened by an angel. Still groggy, Peter’s chains fell off, then his cell door opened, and Peter was led outside, out of the jail and the entire city. Up to that time, Peter thought he was having a dream. What a commotion ensued in the morning! I feel bad for the guards because Herod assumed they were in cahoots with Peter and he had them executed.

The second prison break is even more miraculous than the first. We weren’t chained to guards nor were we locked up on a rocky island. The chains that held each of us fast were those of sin. The doors to our cells were more securely locked in place than the steel bars of a maximum-security prison. The obstacles to our escape were more impassable than miles of an open ocean full of sharks. No one can escape.

Some have attempted to escape the prison of sin by involvement in religious activities. While those activities might change their behavior, it does nothing about their heart. Others go to the prison library, thinking they can escape if they just educate themselves. Again, education has lots of benefits, but it has absolutely no effect on loosening the chains of sin binding us. Religion and education “have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Colossians 2:23)

Since the earliest days of Creation, there has been a cosmic battle between Satan and God. None of us are innocent victims in this war. All of us are active participants in the rebellion, seeking to live independently of God. “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” (Colossians 1:21).

For some people, their conflict with God is like an open and aggressive battle. For others, their treason looks more like a cold war. Regardless, we thought our independence from God’s authority was the path to freedom, but it results in the worst kind of bondage possible.

I said there has been a miraculous prison break. It causes the chains of sin to fall off and the cell doors to open wide. It isn’t the result of a riot among the inmates. Nor is it the result of planning and risk-taking by a prisoner. The only thing powerful enough to eat through the chains of sin is the blood of Christ, shed on the cross. The only key that could unlock our cell doors was the key in the hands of the risen Jesus.

In the cosmic battle I referred to, the Bible says, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He [Jesus] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:15). Jesus is the Victor. He came into our world to do battle with the unseen forces of evil … and He won! Now the prisoners (all of us) can go free. Jesus says, “Follow Me. I have satisfied God’s justice for all your sin. I will give you eternal life.”  

Some would rather stay in their cell than follow Jesus into a new life. But for those who choose to follow Him, we agree with the psalmist. “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever.” (Psalm 16:11)

This is the Good News we are to proclaim to the other prisoners.