Free or Imprisoned?

January 3, 2024

If you don’t recognize the location where this photo was taken, at least you can probably figure out what it is. The location is the former Alcatraz Prison on Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay.

“While several well-known criminals, such as Al Capone, George “Machine-Gun” Kelly, Alvin Karpis (the first “Public Enemy #1”), and Arthur “Doc” Barker did time on Alcatraz, most of the prisoners incarcerated there were not well-known gangsters, but prisoners who refused to conform to the rules and regulations at other Federal institutions, who were considered violent and dangerous, or who were considered escape risks.

The average population was only about 260-275 (the prison never once reached its capacity of 336 – at any given time, Alcatraz held less than 1 percent of the total Federal prison population). But while USP (United States Penitentiary) Alcatraz was not the “America’s Devil’s Island” that books and movies often portrayed, it was designed to be a prison system’s prison.

Over the 29 years (1934-1963) that the Federal prison operated, 36 men (including two who tried to escape twice) were involved in 14 separate escape attempts. Of these, 23 were caught, 6 were shot and killed during their escape, and 2 drowned. Two of the men who were caught were later executed in the gas chamber at the California State Prison at San Quentin for their role in the death of a correctional officer during the famous May 2-4, 1946, “Battle of Alcatraz” escape attempt.

Whether or not anyone succeeded in escaping from Alcatraz depends on the definition of “successful escape.” Is it getting out of the cellhouse, reaching the water, making it to land, or reaching land and not getting caught? Officially, no one ever succeeded in escaping from Alcatraz, although to this day there are five prisoners listed as “missing and presumed drowned.”[1]

Doesn’t seem like a place you want to be, does it?

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But there’s worse than that.

Many years ago, the creator of all there is, ever has been, and ever will be created a man, who He chose to be “in His likeness.” God chose to place that man in the most perfect of places on earth, the Garden of Eden. We’ve been studying Genesis in our Sunday morning discipleship group and I’m reminded of just how good things were in the beginning.

Humans and animals got along together. Beautiful plants which were also good for eating were plentiful. Man had the perfect job of keeping the Garden of Eden up on God’s behalf. Work was productive, meaningful, and pleasing because our ancestor was doing just what God designed him to do in the place God put him.

God even fashioned a mate for the man. One who would be the perfect companion, to equally have dominion over the earth, both given the freedom to live serving the One who made them in perfect harmony with the earth.

We know what happened. In God’s desire to give them the choice to show their love to Him by choosing to obey or disobey, they disobeyed.

Immediately, life changed. Working the garden was no longer pleasurable, but difficult. Woman’s birth pains were intensified, even though she would continue to multiply as God intended. That first couple no longer had the perfect relationship between each other, or with their maker.

What was the ultimate freedom was now a prison. They were imprisoned to sin with no parole.

That imprisonment has been passed down from Adam and Eve to you and me. If you think the conditions at Alcatraz were difficult, and escape from that sentence, almost impossible, consider that there is no escape from sin of our own devices.

Most of my readers, at least those who comment, are Christians. They know that this imprisonment is not forever. Sure, we are destined to live in a damaged world, affected by that original sin, but we have a hope in Jesus Christ, that through His death on the cross, our sins have been paid for, and we are free.

Paul describes it this way.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1, NIV)

If you don’t know that hope for yourself today, please ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins so that you too, may experience freedom over imprisonment.

If you do have that hope, share this message with someone who doesn’t. We all need some encouragement through words of hope in this new year.

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[1] https://www.bop.gov/about/history/alcatraz.jsp