The Tree, The Tomb, and The Voice that Calls Your Name
II've seen it twice in the theater and more than 10 times on Netflix. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent watching YouTube reaction videos. In fact, I even made a podcast with my friend, Andy Jones, to talk about the theological implications of this summer's hit movie. The soundtrack might still be playing in your car. You might have even seen the singing voices perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. What is the movie? K-Pop Demon Hunters.
There is a scene that really captures my theological attention. It’s the darkest part of the movie. Our main character, Rumi, feels destroyed. She has been humiliated in front of her audience and her friends. The secret she's been hiding for so long is now revealed, and she is completely broken, worthless… a failure.
Rumi seeks the help of her adoptive mother, Celine. This location was revealed earlier in the movie: the sacred burial place of Rumi’s mother. Celine looks to the sky over the large old tree, the protective “Honmoon” is breaking even here. Celine seems afraid, and when she hears someone approaching her, she spins around, ready to attack. Celine is shocked to see Rumi openly displaying the scars and patterns that she wanted to hide from the world. Rumi laments:
I thought I could fix it all.
Fix me.
But I ran out of time.
They saw.
They know.
There’s no denying it now.
This is what I am.
“It’s not too late for us; we aren’t out of time. Jesus came at the perfect time. ”
Rumi is panicked and feels completely out of control, out of time. Celine reacts the way many of us would: in disbelief. Rumi continues to talk, saying that Celine knew she was a mistake from the very start. She collapses with her sword in her hand, offering it to Celine, and begs:
Do what you should have done a long time ago.
Rumi believes that her only way out is by ending her own life. Rumi believes that Celine should cut her down so that she would not exist. But Celine reminds Rumi that she swore to her mother she would protect what was left, but she didn't realize it would be a child like her. Everything that Celine was taught told her that Rumi was wrong, but she made a promise to accept and help her. Rumi cries out:
Accept me!?
You told me to cover up, to hide.
Why can't you look at me?
Why can't you love me?
All of me!
It’s a devastating scene. It speaks to the deep-down places in our lives when we feel that there is no hope and no possible redemption. The people who were supposed to support us fail, and everything seems to be crumbling down around us. Darkness. Empty. Isolated. Afraid. You’ve felt this same ache before, haven’t you? You’re familiar with another place where despair meets a tree; it's in Scripture. Look to the cross of Christ.
Paul shows us in Galatians 3: that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” When we are feeling so broken and cursed, we can lift our eyes to the cross to see that Jesus has taken our curse upon himself. When we look to the cross, we see that Jesus bears our scars; we see his nail-pierced hands. We see his perfect sacrifice, which is for us.
“Because of his great love for you, Jesus sets you free from sin and heals your brokenness. This is what the Gospel sounds like.”
It’s not too late for us; we aren’t out of time. Jesus came at the perfect time. Paul reminds us in Galatians 4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Our redemption arc is complete in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Our sins are paid for on the cross.
But let’s not stay just at the cross, come and see the tomb, where we see a garden and an empty grave. We see another crying woman, Mary Magdalene, who is looking for Jesus but can’t find him through her tears. Mistaken as a gardener, Jesus calls out her name, “Mary, Mary,” and she sees her teacher, her savior. It’s an echo of the comforting words in Isaiah 43:1, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” In the Resurrection, we see that Jesus has the power to restore our brokenness and that we receive his righteousness. In the cross, we are cleansed of our sins by the blood of Jesus. We are not able to fix ourselves; instead, by the wonderworking power of God’s word, we are restored by Christ and his promise.
Are you feeling afraid, alone, and isolated? You don’t need to be afraid of approaching Jesus. He sees you, He loves you, all of you. His scars are for you. He brings us into his arms, assures us we are forgiven. We are free, knowing we belong to Christ and that we are healed! 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Because of his great love for you, Jesus sets you free from sin and heals your brokenness. This is what the Gospel sounds like.