MJDavidson

I have absolutely no intention of watching him die. Millions of us will have the opportunity to watch a man take his final breath from the comfort of our living rooms. His name is Nidal Malik Hasan. The former Army psychiatrist opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing thirteen people and wounding thirty-two others. Thirteen families lost people they loved and now the Army has scheduled his execution by firing squad for December 3. I am not opposed to capital punishment. Scripture recognizes the authority of civil government to punish evil and Paul says in Romans 13 that the governing authority does not bear the sword in vain. His crimes were terrible and I understand why people want to see justice done. The government has a responsibility to deal seriously with their murderer. But I cannot see what good it would do my own soul to sit in front of a screen and watch his final moments. I am troubled by how accustomed we have become to watching people die. Scroll through social media and you may come across a Ukrainian soldier being killed by a drone. Another video may show a police officer firing his weapon to protect himself or someone else. Then we scroll again, perhaps to a joke or a family celebration. Somewhere in all of that, a human being has just died. I wonder whether we give that reality much thought anymore. I realize those situations are different. A soldier in war and a convicted murderer receiving a lawful sentence are different cases. Yet the person watching still witnesses death. It ought to be a solemn thing, even when the punishment is deserved. The Bible speaks openly about public executions. Under the law God gave Israel, certain capital sentences were carried out before the community. Deuteronomy 17 required witnesses and those witnesses were to participate in carrying out the sentence. Elsewhere God said the people would hear and fear and turn away from such evil. He also placed limits upon the treatment of those who had been executed. Israel was a covenant nation, so we must be careful about applying every part of its judicial law directly to America. Still, Scripture makes clear that public punishment could serve the administration of justice. Then we read God’s own words: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). There was another public execution that would change the course of human history forever. The Romans took Jesus of Nazareth, nailed Him to a cross, raised it before the people and left Him there to die. Some who watched mocked Him. Others spat at Him. His mother was there. Those responsible for His death had the authority to execute prisoners and they used it against a man who had committed no sin. For the Christian, what happened at that cross is more precious than anything else and nothing humbles us so much. When the apostle Paul said he would glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was speaking about what Christ accomplished there. The question we must ask is the same question people have asked for centuries: Was His death really necessary? To understand Jesus Christ and His cross, we must first understand ourselves. The Bible speaks plainly. You and I are lawbreakers. The living God has given His law and it is binding upon every one of us, whether we claim to believe in Him or not. We are to love Him above everything else. We must tell the truth, honor our parents, refuse hatred and lust, keep ourselves from stealing and coveting. In thought as well as action, God’s commandments show us how we ought to live. Perhaps someone reading this is saying, “I’m no worse than my neighbors.” That may well be true. But your neighbors are not the measure of righteousness. God is. Compare yourself with His perfect law and you discover how far short you have fallen. I have to do the same. Think of the words you regret, the selfish thoughts you have entertained, the things you knew were right and chose to leave undone. God knows the whole of our lives, including everything we have tried to keep from other people. Now the God who gave that law is just. He has promised life to those who obey Him perfectly and He has declared judgment upon those who break His commands. The dreadful fact is that every one of us has broken them. Our predicament is terrible because the law we have broken belongs to God Himself. We have sinned against the One who made us and cannot put ourselves right with Him. Suppose you decided today that from now on you would keep every commandment. What about yesterday? What about everything you have already done? Better behavior tomorrow cannot erase guilt from the past. Your prayers cannot undo a lie you told. An act of kindness cannot make yesterday’s cruelty disappear. Even if you could obey perfectly from this moment forward, you would still need an answer for the sins already committed. We know ourselves well enough to admit that we will sin again. Here is why the gospel is such good news. God has acted for sinners who cannot save themselves. He is just and He must deal with sin. He is also loving and He desires the salvation of sinners. We should never make His justice the enemy of His love. Both belong to the character of the living God. In the fullness of time, Jesus Christ came into the world, truly God and truly man. He lived among people who broke God’s law every day, yet He never broke it Himself. He had no sinful thoughts to confess, no wrongs to make right, no guilt for which He needed forgiveness. Then wicked men arrested Him, mocked Him, and put Him to death. The creature spat upon the Creator. The sinner spat upon the Savior. What was accomplished at Calvary? Jesus had no sins of His own to die for. Yet the Bible says, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). If He bore a curse, whose curse was it? The answer is that He died for the sins of others. He willingly suffered the judgment that guilty people deserved. The Son of God gave Himself in the place of sinners. There is a word in the Bible which Christians should love: propitiation. It means that Christ bore God’s righteous wrath against sin. God did not overlook evil, pretend that His law had never been broken, or announce forgiveness without dealing with guilt. At the cross, Jesus bore the punishment for those He came to save. God’s justice was satisfied and His love was shown in the giving of His own Son. This is why Calvary was necessary. Forgiveness came at a cost that you and I could never have paid. What does a person do with such news? You repent of your sin and trust in Jesus Christ. You stop trying to earn God’s favor by your religion, your kindness, or your efforts to become a better person. You depend upon what the living Lord Jesus accomplished when He died and rose again. His sacrifice is sufficient. Those who belong to Him are forgiven, justified, and received into the family of God. When December comes, I will leave the execution at Fort Hood to those charged with carrying out the sentence. I do not need to watch a man die to believe that justice should be done. I will, however, return again to the account of Jesus Christ upon the cross. I know why He was there. He had never sinned. I have. He had no guilt to answer for. I do. And He willingly suffered for sinners like me. The people at Calvary watched Him suffer, though few understood what God was accomplishing. Scripture tells us why. The cross was necessary because God is holy, our sins are real, and His Son loved us enough to give His life for our salvation. When the redeemed of God arrive in heaven, every one of us will know why we are there. We will remember what it cost for sinners to be forgiven. Jesus Christ, who had no sins of His own to die for, willingly died for ours. I cannot imagine ever growing tired of thanking Him.