The Doctor Who Episode Dark Water begins with some intense emotions. It all starts with declarations of love between the Doctor’s companion Clara Oswald and her boyfriend Danny Pink. Before the conversation is over however, Danny is hit by a car and killed. Clara has to hear the news when an onlooker picks up Danny’s phone.
This leads to a desperate act which is quite out of character for Clara. Convinced that the Doctor will not help her use the TARDIS to go back and prevent Danny’s death, she steals all the TARDIS keys and threatens to throw them all into a volcano. When The Doctor refuses to help her, since it would create a paradox, she follows through on her threat – stranding them both forever on an alien world. Of course none of it is real. The Doctor was clued up and it all happened in a shared dream state. She finds herself standing back in the TARDIS – her betrayal all exposed. These are the acts of a woman deep in grief – but they are a betrayal all the same. As the Doctor puts it:
“You betrayed me. You betrayed our trust, you betrayed our friendship, you betrayed everything that I’ve ever stood for. You let me down!”
It’s what happens next that really hit me deep inside. The Doctor explains that he will try to help her find Danny in the afterlife. If such a place exists, he’ll find it.
Shocked, Clara asks him why. After she betrayed him, why is he still helping her. In reply, The Doctor speaks the most iconic words of season 8.
“Why? Do you think that I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?”
I love this line. It practically drew tears from me. It speaks so much of The Doctor’s character – the core of who he really is.
I’d been a little slow to warm to the twelfth Doctor. Oh, I’d enjoyed every minute of his adventures, and thought Peter Capaldi did a fantastic job of portraying him, but he didn’t come across as an overly likable character – especially when contrasted with Matt Smith’s eleventh Doctor. Now however, this sharp grumpy man reveals what is truly inside his hearts. This was the moment I came to truly love the Twelfth Doctor.
Don’t we all long to be cared for so deeply that even after a horrific betrayal we will still be forgiven? We will still be loved. That it would truly make no difference.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of God when I heard that line. This is just the kind of love that he has for us. In the face of all our betrayals he still loves us, still forgives us, still cares about us.
As Jesus hung on the cross dying, he uttered some other beautiful words.
“Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
– Luke 23:34
In the midst of humanity’s great betrayal against its creator – he spoke words of forgiveness over the very ones who were killing him.
In Romans, we read:
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
– Romans 5:8
Each time we sin, we commit a fresh betrayal. We let God down, just as Clara let the Doctor down. Jesus knew this. He knew we’d sin, but with that knowledge, in the midst of our betrayal he died for us anyway. That kind of love is yours. That’s how much he cares for you.
- Have you thanked God lately for loving you even though you let him down?
- Is there a way you can show that kind of extreme love to somebody?
Image sourced from heymissymissy. The photo itself is copyright of the BBC.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
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Thank you, I was totally thinking the same thing and found this article while looking for the exact formulation of what the Doctor said.
And we can also rephrase it like that :
“We betrayed Him. We betrayed our trust, We betrayed our friendship, We betrayed everything that He’ve ever stood for. We let Him down!”
But ” Do you think that He cares for us so little that betraying him would make a difference?”
I find that it totally applies to God