Deep down we all know that justice must be served. I think that is why the news of Osama’s death felt so wonderfully right. The man who had killed so many was brought to justice. Government has succeeded in doing what they were placed on earth to do, punish evil and reward good. While the church is called to pray for her enemies, the government is established to execute justice. And we all know deep down that is is good when evil is punished.
But let us remember this, our thirst for justice which feel so good directed at our worst enemies must be thoroughly and consistently applied. Our sins too must meet justice. And ultimately the One who governs all is required by his absolute integrity to punish evil, even ours.
And while we now sit in the Easter season, Good Friday never leaves our memories. That day always pulls us in so many directions. We call it good and yet often leave full of sorrow. But truly it is when we reflect upon justice that we understand where all of those emotions intersect. Deep down we know that it is good when evil is punished. Yes, even our evil. Even if it is punished upon the One we now love. We know it must happen. Tearfully we rejoice that in God’s great mercy he has served the justice due to our sin upon his Son. Deep down we know that it is good when evil is punished. That is why we call it Good Friday.
Phil,
I struggle with the phrase “wonderfully right”. Deep down I feel the tension that this is “not how things are supposed to be”. I feel sad that so many in America are rejoicing and celebrating and saying this is one of the greatest days in our history (and some of this is even coming from Christ-followers). A life has been lost and no matter how evil, distorted that person had become they still bear the image of God and they were a life that was deeply loved by God. Unfortunately our “thirst for justice” is more, or less, our insatiasable need to punish and show retribution. I am not getting into the subject of whether the government has the right, authority, etc. to do this but rather, our response, as Christians, and as a supposedly “christian nation” to this killing. We kill another to show that killing is wrong and then rejoice in that killing and, for many, masqurade our thirst for blood as a thirst for justice. I don’t know where I stand on all of this…but I see this as a sad day, yes a day in which an evil has been brought to some sort of finality but one in which a person made in the image of God has been killed and a whole bunch of people are happy about that.
btw, when is said that i struggle with “wonderfully right” i whole-heartedly agree with evil being brought to justice but only in the context of God doing that would i say that it feels “wonderfully right” and the “way it should be”. Yes, God uses governments, etc. but we both see that justice being applied by sinful people will never be “the way it should be” and never be “wonderfully or totally right”.
Tom, in general, you are right that is Eden there would have been no need for retribution since their was no sin. But we do not live in that world. And in this world, the NT scripture are clear that the government is given the right and responsibility to punish evil, even through the sword.
We pray for our enemies as Church even while God’s design of government seek their punishment.
The idea, which I know many hold to that all killing is wrong, is just simply so far from the picture of God in the scriptures. It makes almost the entire theocracy of Israel existence as a nation (in bible times) a series of God acting against his own laws and ways.
God does advocate in the scripture killing to show that killing in wrong. Not by vigilantes. Not by the Church. But by the rulers called to such tasks.
And of course, they do not always do right. None of us live out our callings perfectly. But in this case, it is clear that his actions were evil by any standard but his own and largely directed as a mockery of the one true God and for the glorification of a false God.
And when God’s design to reward good and punish evil works as it should we can rejoice and give thanks to God.
Our killing of Osama did not stop him from repenting and receiving life (which God and true Christians desired). His own hardened heart is to blame.
I concur Tom. The feeling I got when watching the broadcast was bitter-sweet, knowing that a ten year pursuit of a ‘dangerous enemy’ had come to an end, but mourning the fact that so many people on the news were gatting such joy out of a man being killed. It was a morbid view of humanity; as if they were watching the heroic resolution of an action movie, but not taking to heart the fact that they were rejoicing in death, and not just this man’s physical death, but as Charles Wolf aluded, his eternal death as well. I know that the OT God is known for vanquishing His enemies and that is true justice, but since I was not personaly in on the special revelation of God’s instructions in this matter, I have mixed feelings. I recall at the time of 9-11, there were a good many people who saw what had happened as a wake-up call for America to stop living/moving away from God as a nation, and I’m certainly not convinced that that movement has changed significantly.
not to mention that there are probably another dozen ‘bin ladens’ waiting to take his place. The ‘war on terror’ is not over, and I don’t imagine it will be until the Lord returns.
These are interesting points all around. I truly wonder if the majority of the people seen to be celebrating the death of OBL would say that was the major point of their celebration. I think it is one part of a greater feeling of justice, of good over evil, and even retribution. Those might be hard feelings for people of faith to reconcile with our view of a loving Savior, but they are not all necessarily sinful feelings. Nor is the expressing of them.
One other thing I struggle with is the notion that America is a “Christian Nation”. A nation of many Christians, maybe. A nation whose laws drew from tenets of Christian/Jewish law, sure. But ideally, we are not a nation who espouses any one religion, or favors any one creed. While individuals serving in government may practice or be influenced by their religion, or that of their constituents, the structure of our government is built to operate outside the framework of. The “religion” of America is democracy.
Last thing – I agree entirely with the above comment that the war on terror is far from over, nor will it ever be until Christ’s return. One man does not embody the entirety of evil, and his followers are many. That said, I am still relieved that one man is not walking the earth any longer, and that temporal justice has been served. Eternal justice is in God’s hands.
Was talking with a colleague today about making a distinction between justice and revenge. Our theme chapter at school this year has been Romans 12, which talks a little about our relationship to our enemies, so this was ripe for the discussing!
I believe that what we saw was justice and not revenge. I also would gander to bet, that if you lost a loved one in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there was just a little bit of satisfaction in the announcement. But tomorrow those loved ones will wake up, and that act of bringing OBL to justice won’t have made a lasting difference in the pain of loss that they daily feel (I can only say this out of thought and no experience, so I likely could be wrong).
The more interesting conversation would be to think that Good Friday and Easter were for OBL too! His sins were covered by the blood of Christ, had he only not rejected the truth of his salvation.
Another thought exercise was to think about personal responses to the OBL news. Compare and contrast the reactions of David and Jesus as they would have been told the news. Now that’s worthy of beverage and theological conversation!