I found a picture of Jesus washing the feet of various world leaders, including Bin Laden. This made me stop and ponder a few things. Namely about justice, heavenly grace, and my need for the latter.The death of Osama Bin Laden caused me to think a bit today on the notion of justice. I believe a bit of justice was served with Bin Laden's death. Perhaps, (as I believe) the role of temporal government is to insure that justice is granted to those who have been victimized under legal statutes. The wrongdoer punished as they say.
But what about the role of heavenly justice? For me, I have chosen to believe in a faith that offers both absolute mercy and absolute justice. For me, this "contradictory" fulfilment is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Those who do wrong including myself can be forgiven because Christ has paid the penalty for our transgression. If this is true then hopefully the way I relate to others reflects this belief without hypocrisy, malice, or falsehood.
This led me to another thought. What would my reaction to this news have been if I had learned that Bin Laden had converted to Christianity before his death? Would I have looked forward to seeing him in heaven as the heavenly father would have? Would I rejoice over his conversion as the angels certainly would have? The fact that I cannot answer definitively "yes" on these questions reminds me that I am still in need of God's grace and mercy.
