Life is full of dilemmas. Many of them are solvable, but occasionally we encounter situations that are logically impossible to solve. For instance:

  • Without experience it is difficult to obtain a job. And, without a job it is difficult to obtain experience.
  • A person who needs to make a purchase will need credit. But Credit will require the person to make a purchase.

You probably recognize these as situations commonly referred to as a “catch 22.” But, do you know where that phrase originated?

Joseph Heller coined the term in his 1961 novel entitled, “catch 22.” The novel focused on a series of unsolvable logical dilemmas encountered by servicemen during World War II.

For instance, pilots in the novel are told that they may stop flying missions if they are insane. However, when they claim insanity to avoid flying, the military psychiatrists declares them sane and fit for flying because they expressed a sane desire not to fly into danger. Did you catch all of that?

Throughout the Bible, we find plenty of catch 22’s. The greatest of which is the fact that we are all born into sin. The catch 22 of sin manifests itself in several ways. Here are two:

  • The more you learn of your sin, the more you realize that you can’t do anything about it.
  • The more you realize your need of righteousness, the more you realize you cannot attain it.

Eventually, you must come to the point where you echo the words of Isaiah or Paul saying, “Oh wretched man that I am,” “I am a man of unclean lips.”

The only way out of a catch 22 is for someone from outside of the situation to intervene. For example, if you need experience for a job, and need a job for experience, you have to wait until someone from outside will intervene by giving you a job without experience.

The same is true in the case of our sinful condition before God. From a human standpoint, it is a truly unsolvable logical dilemma. However, Christ entered our world from outside of our sinful condition. He took on flesh but knew no sin. He is the only hope for our catch 22.

By substituting His life for ours on the cross, He took what we deserved –death. But three days later, He conquered the grace by rising from the dead.

Jesus offers a way out of our sinful dilemma. He offers to take our sin and give us His righteousness.

The Bible says:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

(Romans 3:23-26 ESV)