We’ve all been horrified by the shooting last Friday in the movie theater at Aurora, Colorado. Twelve people were murdered, and 58 others were wounded. The gunman, who is now in custody, was heavily armed with a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol.
How can any of us make sense out of such brutality? Evil
exists. Many of America’s institutions seem to have given up any belief in
right and wrong, and then something terrible happens and those same
institutions are left stammering about gun control or blaming political
opponents.
Another thing. Heroism, sacrifice, and courage rise to the surface in the face of great evil. Three of the twelve who died on Friday were men shielding their girlfriends from harm. [UPDATE: ABC News is reporting that four of the twelve who died were men protecting their girlfriends. Click here for the story.]
We who trust the Bible believe that Almighty God permits and
even utilizes evil for His own purposes—His glory and the good of His people. We
may have a hard time accepting this, let alone understanding it, but the Lord does
not feel the need to explain Himself.
In times like these, perhaps the best course for us Christians is to pray for the hurting, to treat others with kindness, and to share the gospel.
Since this is a blog about “admiring Christ,” I have no
desire to offer political commentary. But what, if anything, does Christ have
to say about mass murder? That seems to be a fair question.
Jesus did speak about mass murder. A group of people approached Jesus to tell Him
how Pilate, the Roman governor, had murdered some Galileans who were
worshiping in Jerusalem. For reasons
unknown to history, Pilate had these worshipers killed and their blood was taken and mixed
with the blood of their animal sacrifices.
Jesus’ comments might shock us. Because He really did not
address the question of why God would permit this kind of evil. Here’s the
whole passage, from Luke’s gospel:
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-3).
Notice how Jesus responded. First, He defused any thought
that the folks killed were worse sinners than anyone else. But then the Savior’s
main point: unless you repent, you will all perish. As terrible as a mass
murder is, to die without Christ, to die without repenting of your sins and trusting Him as Savior, is infinitely more terrible.
Christ’s message in the wake of mass murder is to warn people
to prepare for eternity. Turn to Jesus, and the sting of death (even at the
hands of a murderer) is removed.
