Tomorrow, Tom Hooper’s film adaptation of Schoenberg & Boublil’s Les Miserables opens in theaters. If you haven’t yet made plans to see it, do so now. It will spread sweet icing on your Christmas season.
A poster for “Les Miserables.” / Universal Pictures
Les Miserables, the musical, is based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel of the same title and successfully retains its key themes.
The main theme is the conflict of law versus grace, and the show’s two primary male characters represent the two sides. Javert, a policeman/investigator, always plays by the rules, and he expects everyone else to do so as well. Valjean, a convict-turned-entrepreneur, dedicates his life to serving others as he has been served. The two forces conflict throughout the tale.
Javert identifies how the two cannot peacefully coexist:
Damned if I’ll live in the debt of a thief,
Damned if I’ll yield at the end of the chase.
I am the law, and the law is not mocked.
I’ll spit his pity right back in his face.
There is nothing on earth that we share.
It is either Valjean or Javert!
This tension between law and grace marks human existence and is not foreign to the Bible.
The Law of God is holy and righteous and good (Rom 7:12) in that it shows us how life works best. The problem is that sinful people can’t keep it perfectly; the Law exposes their need for rescue (Rom 3:20-21).
However, if we refuse to acknowledge our need for rescue, we’ll do one of two things: Either we’ll lower God’s standard just enough so we can (pretend to) keep it, or we’ll lower God’s standard all the way and pretend there is no standard. The first approach is called legalism; the second is called license. Legalism and License are not opposites but cousins. In either case, we use the Law for something it was never meant to do. We attempt to gain God’s favor through it. This approach will never work (Gal 2:16).
God holds us to a standard of perfection (Matt 5:48). When we fail, he rescues. Jesus came for this very purpose (Acts 4:11-12). We use the term “Grace” to label God’s great favor given through Christ to those who deserve his curse. Such grace cannot coexist with a faulty “law” approach.
So Javert and Valjean will conflict. One, being transformed by grace, will lavish grace on others. The other… Well, just go see the movie.
Don’t read the Bible because you have to. Read it because you get to. And when you read it, notice how often God directs people away from their performance and toward his mercy. Will you trust in his rescue?
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