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Oh, Jesus, Jesus, dear Jesus!
These were the first words I said when I read the newspaper article detailing the opening arguments in the Brunswick, GA. trial of David Edenfield, who faces the death penalty if convicted of the slaying of Christopher Michael Barrios. The prosecutor told the jurors that the little 6-year-old boy, Christopher, begged, and pleaded as he was stripped repeatedly raped and then strangled to death by his captor David Edenfield.
Even as I write this, my heart breaks for the family of this child. I can’t imagine the pain and horror of this little boys’ last hour and I am filled with so much anger that I cry out, “Where is your justice?”
Confession: I know this is probably not what you would expect to hear a pastor say but this is how I feel. I would like to spend five minutes of personal one on one time with the monster who did this. Justice? No, that is not justice; but my response is all too human. The hard thing in how I feel is that I know I have to pray for the murderer, and I have and I am; but I don’t want too.
In today’s verse we see Jesus’ followers acting all too human; ready to strike with their swords. The disciples are ready to defend Jesus and stand by their own might to fight for justice. After three years of intimate fellowship with Jesus, the daily teaching and instruction and still the disciples do not understand. Justice will never come by the sword.
Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. God commands us to defend the weak and to protect the helpless; but true justice is only possible through Jesus. The purpose of the cross is, in part, that the punishment for sin may be paid. Jesus death on that cross was the full payment for sin. Justice demands that, and only an incredible, loving and merciful God would offer Himself as the payment for sin. Jesus did not offer Himself as the payment for some sins’ but the payment for all sins’; and that includes the rape and murder of a child. I don’t understand it and sometimes I don’t want that to be true but it is. I praise God for His grace. I hope and wait for that glorious day when Jesus will reign…no more sorrow, no more pain, only justice, peace, and joy forever and forever! Amen and Amen!
Even so, quickly come Lord Jesus.
Wow….God is an amazing God!!!!
I’m selfishly glad to know that I’m not the only one who wrestles with the conflict of “my version of justice” vs. God’s perfect balance of mercy and vengeance. God is God, and I am not. Praise God!
Justice. The separation is in our human nature and God’s way. I don’t understand all things and that is certainly one that I would ask. I have a lot of questions to ask God like this one.
Not only, how is justice allowing that to happen to the little one
How is it that my Sister’s only son died in a car accident
Why is it that families who seem to have nothing in the first place, get the raw end of the deal.
Ah, wait a minute. This is his plan we are working with. All things are done within his plan and there is a purpose to all things. Maybe my quuestion should be, what am I to learn so that I can help others. I know that in my struggles, I learn and am able to share with others. It is not easy, and it is scary. I can’t explain why that happened but there is a lot that I can’t explain. That is the mystery of God.
Pray for them? God’s grace?
Lots to think about.
Jim,
You always stir me.
When you consider the infinite distance between God and man by virtue of our sin condition, and the long long way Jesus has to reach to redeem us to Himself, the differences between us “good” folks and David Edenfield (or Adolf Hitler for that matter) are miniscule. We are all in the same morass, desperately broken and hopeless without the merciful Savior.
I’m not equivocating or dismissive about the incredible evil committed by this man or others. And I am not a passivist. But it is gut check time for me when I start feeling like I’m morally superior and quick to dispense justice “by the sword”.
God, have mercy us. Thank you for your mercy dear Jesus.
Jim…thanks for your stirring words and challenging me with my thoughts on justice. I couldn’t imagine something like this happening to one of my girls, but even THEN I would have to fight terribly against bringing about my form of justice and pray for the perpetrator…when every fiber of my body and soul wants to do anything but that and when the world would label me a freak. I am still called to pray for them. That said, bringing it down a bit, even when dealing with minor day-to-day “injustices”, I still struggle with praying for those that have “wronged” me or someone I love…it’s just “not fair” that so and so did xyz…! We are called to love, to extend grace, to forgive, and to pray for those people. Thank God that He gave me grace for everything big and small and has shown mercy on me through his son. Thank you Lord Jesus!
I read this early and had to think about it all day. I thought this is really, really heavy. How, can we even respond. I thought of three cases. Bottom line, God’s justice and mine are NOT the same. His thoughts are not my thoughts. His is perfect and Jesus is the embodiment of His mercy and justice in one person. I could stop right there.
I thought of Jeffrey Dahmer, who is reported to have become a born-again Christian in prison while he served his sentence for things I won’t even mention here. He would fit the word “monster” very well. He himself was murdered by a fellow-inmate. So I must question his conversion. It could not have been real could it? Was he beyond Grace? Did Jesus’ blood not apply to him? Was it insufficient? Was it impossible for him to be saved?
You can read the story of a distant relative of mine, Joseph Hunton on the Web. He was a Quaker hanged in 1828 for the crime of forgery. His hanging helped bring an end to many of the capital crime laws in England. Today, he’d sit on the board of some company and get a bonus for his trouble. The story says his hanging was delayed for unknown reasons and during that time he apparently fully repented and actually preached to other inmates who were on their way to the gallows. Would he have repented at all had he escaped to America as was his plan? Without being confronted by his sin and the earthly consequences, would he have considered their effect on his soul?
Two widely different examples but in God’s economy, if we believe the report, mercy and grace were extended to both men through Jesus Christ.
Finally, I have personally known three murder victims. I prayed for swift and harsh justice for two of the murderers, because the third killed himself. But my justice excludes any hope for redemption. I have no room for Jesus in their cases. In that, am I not sinning myself?
Thank God that Jesus is greater than our sin! Thank God for his mercy and grace extended to all of us.
just catching up on my reading here…
Jim, I know you were probably dropping a few tears as you wrote this and struggled with injustice. Thanks for your authenticity… which makes your teaching and words all the more powerful.
blessings my friend,
alan