Subtitle: And what does it mean in our lives on this earth and after death?
Excerpt: Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables explores God’s grace through Bishop Myriel’s forgiveness of Jean Valjean, a criminal, demonstrating grace’s transformative power. Valjean, transformed by the Bishop’s grace, embraced a new life of honesty and compassion, acknowledging his unworthiness and accepting the gift of mercy.
The idea of God’s grace doesn’t make any sense, especially to those (like me) who tend to have a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mentality.
The whole idea of grace is antithetical to earning anything.
Coming from the Latin word “gratia” which means “favor” or “esteem”, the word “grace” is perhaps better understood in its Greek context: charis.
Charis
Prounced khar-ece, charis means a gift. It’s a blessing freely given, standing in contrast to earned wages.
It shows up around 150 times in the New Testament.¹ That’s a lot of grace!
In its first-century context, the word might be applied to refer to an undeserved benefit, like a gift from a wealthy patron to a client.
Or, from a master who unexpectedly gave his slave freedom and established him with his own home and income.
The story of Bishop Myriel and Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is a picture of God’s grace.
God’s Grace in Les Misérables
Bishop Myriel is also called Bienvenu [Welcome] by his parishioners. The Bishop had lived up to his name the prior night when he invited the desperate and impoverished Valjean to spend the night in his home that he shared with his sister and their housekeeper, Madame Magloire.
Valjean had just been released from 19 years of prison It was the first night Valjean had spent in a bed after being released from 19 years of hard labor in prison.
His original sentence had been for stealing a loaf of bread that he intended to give to starving children in his care. He’s released from prison but is condemned to carry papers identifying him as a dangerous criminal.
You’ve probably seen the movie, but if you’re not familiar, this 1:21 clip will set the scene of his release.
The Bishop is the first person who had shown him any kindness since.
They had shared a meal, and Valjean had a warm bed in a private room to sleep in.
But Valjean had repaid the favor by getting up in the middle of the night, stealing some of the fine silver cutlery, and running away.
The chapter begins with Madame Magloire discovering the missing silverware and reflecting on the scandalous behavior of Valjean.
The following is from Chapter 12 of Hugo’s novel.
From Chapter 12
“A pretty idea, truly,” said Madame Magloire to herself, as she went and came, “to take in a man like that! and to lodge him close to one’s self! And how fortunate that he did nothing but steal! Ah, mon Dieu! it makes one shudder to think of it!”
As the brother and sister were about to rise from the table, there came a knock at the door.
“Come in,” said the Bishop.
The door opened. A singular and violent group made its appearance on the threshold. Three men were holding a fourth man by the collar. The three men were gendarmes; the other was Jean Valjean.
A brigadier of gendarmes, who seemed to be in command of the group, was standing near the door. He entered and advanced to the Bishop, making a military salute.
“Monseigneur — ” said he.
At this word, Jean Valjean, who was dejected and seemed overwhelmed, raised his head with an air of stupefaction.
“Monseigneur!” he murmured. “So he is not the curé?”
“Silence!” said the gendarme. “He is Monseigneur the Bishop.”
In the meantime, Monseigneur Bienvenu had advanced as quickly as his great age permitted.
“Ah! here you are!” he exclaimed, looking at Jean Valjean. “I am glad to see you. Well, but how is this? I gave you the candlesticks too, which are of silver like the rest, and for which you can certainly get two hundred francs. Why did you not carry them away with your forks and spoons?”
Jean Valjean opened his eyes wide, and stared at the venerable Bishop with an expression which no human tongue can render any account of.
“Monseigneur,” said the brigadier of gendarmes, “so what this man said is true, then? We came across him. He was walking like a man who is running away. We stopped him to look into the matter. He had this silver — ”
“And he told you,” interposed the Bishop with a smile, “that it had been given to him by a kind old fellow of a priest with whom he had passed the night? I see how the matter stands. And you have brought him back here? It is a mistake.”
“In that case,” replied the brigadier, “we can let him go?”
“Certainly,” replied the Bishop.
The gendarmes released Jean Valjean, who recoiled.
“Is it true that I am to be released?” he said, in an almost inarticulate voice, and as though he were talking in his sleep.
“Yes, thou art released; dost thou not understand?” said one of the gendarmes.
“My friend,” resumed the Bishop, “before you go, here are your candlesticks. Take them.”
He stepped to the chimney-piece, took the two silver candlesticks, and brought them to Jean Valjean. The two women looked on without uttering a word, without a gesture, without a look which could disconcert the Bishop.
Jean Valjean was trembling in every limb. He took the two candlesticks mechanically, and with a bewildered air.
“Now,” said the Bishop, “go in peace. By the way, when you return, my friend, it is not necessary to pass through the garden. You can always enter and depart through the street door. It is never fastened with anything but a latch, either by day or by night.”
Then, turning to the gendarmes: —
“You may retire, gentlemen.”
The gendarmes retired.
Jean Valjean was like a man on the point of fainting.
The Bishop drew near to him, and said in a low voice: —
“Do not forget, never forget, that you have promised to use this money in becoming an honest man.”
Jean Valjean, who had no recollection of ever having promised anything, remained speechless. The Bishop had emphasized the words when he uttered them. He resumed with solemnity: —
“Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.”
Grace is Magnificent … and Terrifying
Why was Valjean on the point of fainting?
Why did he look at the Bishop with an expression that was so shocked as to be horrified?
Because he understood what was happening.
He knew what the Bishop had done for him. But he couldn’t understand it. It had been the opposite of all he had experienced in the world.
He knew, that accepting this free gift of grace would have to change his entire outlook of the world and of himself.
Bienvenu had broken the legalistic rules that had kept Valjean in prison the prior 19 years. He had shown extravagant mercy and unmerited favor.
And the Bishop now desired something from him. The Bishop wanted Valjean to now withdraw from the “black thoughts” of anger and bitterness that had calcified Valjean’s heart. To see that there was light and love in a world that had seemed only harsh and unfeeling until then.
The Bishop desired him to change his life completely. Yet, the Bishop wasn’t forcing anything on Valjean. Valjean was free to reject what the Bishop wanted for him.
The Bishop had demonstrated extravagant grace and Valjean was left to wrestle with the implications.
God’s Grace Scares and Offends Us
The grace of God is beautiful and yet it can also be terrifying.
Accepting it means that we acknowledge we’ll never be able to claim God owes us anything.
It’s a gift. We can’t earn it.
God’s grace is something you get, but you didn’t earn. You don’t deserve it, but God loves to give it to you.
This idea is offensive to many of us.
It’s why the Bible calls the Cross of Jesus an “offense” (Galatians 5:11) and a “stumbling block” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Most of us would much rather earn it rather than receive something.
Are we willing to admit that we are actually like Valjean? Wounded and lonely and operating out of selfish motives?
That we need somone like Bishop Bienvenu to give us a gift of mercy and grace and allow our eyes to be opened?
And once we receive such an unmerited gift, will live a life where we grow in the understanding of what we’ve received? Or will we tell ourselves that we really deserved them after all?
Wrapping Up
Imagine if Valjean had left with those candlesticks, and instead of reforming his life, he began planning another burglary at the Bishop’s home.
Rather than leading to new life, his choice would destroy his humanity.
The alternative is to do what Valjean did. To recognize the gift for what it is. He allowed his hatred to be broken. He became an honest man. He became a benefactor to the poor and shared grace with others.
He always kept the candlesticks as a reminder.
He knew it was not something he earned, and resting in that knowledge changed the entire course of his life.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:8-10
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
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