The Twilight Zone episode titled “Long Live Walter Jameson” tells the story of Walter Jameson, a history professor with an uncanny knowledge of historical events who doesn’t seem to age. His colleague, Professor Sam Kittridge, becomes suspicious of Walter’s ageless appearance and detailed historical knowledge. Upon investigation, he discovers that Walter is actually an immortal who has lived for over 2,000 years, a secret he has kept hidden. Jameson explains his reasoning for seeking immortality:
“When I thought of all the things there were to know in the miserable few years that a man had to know them, it seemed senseless. At night, every night I dreamed, as you dreamed, of immortality. Only if a man lived forever, I thought, could there be any point in living at all.”
Operating on that belief, Jameson paid an alchemist to transform him into an immortal. But now, two millennia later, he has become weary of living and wants to die because living forever has not produced greater satisfaction in life.
Jesus said the human problem is not just the mortality of the body but the emptiness of the soul. He said He came to give us life within. What Walter Jameson did not understand before, but was now experiencing, is that immortality and eternal life are not the same. Without inner life, immortality is actually perpetual death. The Bible says Jesus combined inner life and immortality through His death and resurrection on our behalf. Those who say “yes” to Him and accept His offer by faith are now, in fact, immortals simply awaiting our complementary bodies.
Scripture References:
John 6:53
John 7:38
John 10:10
2 Timothy 1:10
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