forgiveness

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:36-38)

I just read an account of a man who witnessed the execution of the third member of the gang that raped and murdered his daughter 20 years ago.

Three trips to the execution chamber in Huntsville, TX.

It mentioned the other two trips he had made and how each time the prisoner about to be executed apologized. He told them to stick it. No way would he accept an apology.

I remember a few years ago, a woman was executed for a crime she had committed as a  young woman. She had become a Christian in the decades since, but she still one day came up for execution. She went to her death understanding that she had to pay, and asking for forgiveness. There was a lot of people outside that were praying for her to have the sentence commuted. She had been a Christian and active in it for a long time. She even led praise in her worship assembly.

But there was also a group outside calling for her death.

When the family was asked, their comment was, we have waited a long time and she deserves it. We will not accept an apology and we do not accept the fact that she could have changed.

She died a free woman. They watched her die as people enslaved to anger and bitterness. Some of them remarked that they would never be free of the bitterness. They would always be enslaved.

In Les Miserables, the main character had stolen and was put in jail. When he got out he stole again from a priest who forgave him and allowed him to keep that which he had taken. He came to another town and became a leading citizen off the wealth he had stolen. But he realized the grace the priest had given him and he changed. He realized he had done wrong and became giving and caring, one that the town (who didn’t know his past) grew to love.

In the end, the policeman that had hunted for him for so long could not accept the evidence in front of his eyes that the man had changed. He could see he had changed, he heard the testimony of the townspeople, yet in his heart he did not think people could do so. There was a disconnect there that he could not reconcile.

The policeman finally killed himself because of the war within his mind.

The prisoner who dies while within the grace of God is free. The people who were wronged and clamor for his death, jubilantly watching it, are enslaved.

This is not to say that the death penalty should be abolished. I believe that it is a massive deterrent to crime when used right.

But I know this. Things have happened to me in my life and I understand the man’s perspective. Unless we forgive, we will die enslaved.

Jesus looked down at people who were killing them and asked God to forgive them. How can we do any less?