Murder or Love?
It is reported that on April 10, 2019, Irwin Jacobs, a very wealthy Minnesota businessman, took the life of Alexandra, his wife of 57 years, whom he adored, because she was suffering from dementia and had been wheelchair bound for the past year. He then turned the gun on himself and ended his own life. This is a tragic story on many levels. But that’s not the point of this post. The question is, was it murder or love that prompted the act? There’s no debate, Irwin pulled the trigger and unlawfully ended his wife’s life. And that’s the first part of the definition of murder. But the second part says, “especially with malice aforethought,” clearly not part of Irwin’s thinking.
Over 2,000 years ago,
there was another death about which we could ask the same question: Was it murder or love? To be sure, the Jewish crowd killed Jesus in spite of having no legitimate charge, no evidence of wrongdoing against Him. And it certainly wasn’t their love motivating the act, but a terrible hatred spawned by their rebellion. But here’s the good news for us. It was love that orchestrated the hearts of those who carried it out. God’s love for mankind. Love for you personally and me personally. Isaiah 53:10 says, “But the Lord [God] was pleased to crush Him [Jesus].” The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Jesus…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). There’s no greater description of love than these two verses.
What does that have to do with the society we live in? In a book written by A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) and published in 1961, The Knowledge of The Holy, Tozer writes, “The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshiping men. This she has done not deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic.” The past six decades have only exacerbated the problem and underscored the Church’s failure to recognize the slippery slope of idolatry: the worship of anything but the one true God, including gods of your own thoughts and imaginations.
The greatest tragedy
in this is that The Bible presents God in His splendor and majesty in a way any seeker can understand. But the Church has largely diluted the message of God’s holiness so that the God presented is nowhere near the God who is. Jesus wouldn’t have said, “Let the children alone and do not hinder them from coming to Me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Matt. 19:14) if the message were not simple enough for children to grasp.
The idea I’m trying to convey is simply that the God of the Bible is the answer to ALL of society’s ills. Are you in a dark place, alone, despondent, bullied, fearful of your future? The true God of the Bible knows your inner longings, your failures, your heartache and, most importantly, He has the power and authority to heal anything you can throw at Him. Murder/suicide is the final act of desperation by someone who has depended on his own resourcefulness, his own strength and gotten nowhere in the only things in life that matter. Sure, you might have money in the bank. You might have your name on buildings and be a big donor to charity. But if you haven’t answered the question, “What did you do with my Son, Jesus?” all your money and fame won’t survive the fires of judgment.
The prophet Jeremiah
is having a conversation with God, and he has recited all of what God has done from creation to deliverance from Egypt, then God speaks to Jeremiah, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” (Jer. 32:27). Again, Jesus was talking with His disciples, and they were astonished at his teaching about salvation, “And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). So, nothing you are dealing with surprises God or is beyond His ability to heal if you’ll let Him. You can take this to the bank: God loves you in spite of your warts and He’s made a way for you to spend eternity with Him. That way is called Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).
If you aren’t sure about what waits for you after you die, check out our Steps to Salvation page. There, you’ll get a clear picture of your condition without Jesus in your life. No matter how bleak things seem to you, nothing is beyond God’s power to erase your past and shower you with more love than you’ll know what to do with.