Forgiveness
There is a great deal in the news at present about Abdelbaset al-Megrahi (aka the Lockerbie Bomber) and his early release from prison. Such times always raise big questions about guilt and forgiveness. We want to see guilty people punished and yet we also understand that compassion for someone terminally ill is important. Where does the right path lie?
Jesus had a great deal to say about injustice and forgiveness. Jesus was always very keen to point out that one day we will all have to answer for our actions. This is surely the right thing. We don’t want anyone to get away with the wrong that they do to others – do we? If someone is guilty of a crime, especially a big crime, then we want those people to face justice for the wrong they have done. Jesus says that one day everyone will have to face this.
Then Jesus also wanted to talk about forgiveness, that the only way to win when you have been wronged is by forgiving. I know it sounds mad because we all want justice but that desire for justice can become a lingering pain when the justice seems not to be done, and if you have ever been a victim of a crime you will know that no amount of justice satisfies this hunger. There may be some peace of mind in knowing the perpetrator of a crime is being punished but that punishment can never undo what was done. The only way to beat the pain is to find forgiveness.
This is tough – not easy. It is far easier to be angry and demand retribution than it is to be able to forgive and yet it is the forgiveness that has the power to heal.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi will one day have to face the ultimate judge of all things, and for him that time is fast approaching. But alive or dead, in prison or free, it is the victims and their families that suffer and need to find peace and that peace can only come through forgiveness.
Politicians exchange insults at such times as this and call each others methods into question and yet it is the victims families that continue to suffer. I don’t want to add any words that will just cause pain to them but I believe Jesus would want them – and us – to think more about forgiveness than retribution, even though it is hard to do so.
