I wrote this over a year ago, and
thought about re-posting it yesterday for the anniversary of 9/11 and didn't,
but after being way behind on things today I thought it is worth sharing again,
despite the date...
I remember 9/11...I remember sitting in my first
hour class and watching live as the second plane came out of nowhere and
crashed right into the tower. I remember how emotional everyone got and how
Osama bin Ladin became the most wanted criminal in the world.
What some of you may know is that
Osama bin Ladin was responsible for other terrorist acts including the 1998
bombing of a U.S. Embassy in Africa. What I would dare to bet not many of you
are aware of is that on Christmas Eve 1979 Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan.
The United States, and other groups, wanted to support Afghanis in defending
themselves so they provided local militias with money, guns, and military
training. One of the leaders of that group was Osama bin Ladin.
What makes atrocities like 9/11
worse is that they were organized by someone we once tried to help. It's like
we've been betrayed.
Rewind things almost 2,000 years to
the time of a man named Jesus. He lived during a time when his home country was
occupied by a foreign military. Romans oppressed his people. It was these same
soldiers that nailed him to the cross. If Jesus had an enemy it would have been
the Romans.
Or even better yet, the follower
Judas who betrayed him, turning him over to the guards when they were looking
for him.
Jesus knows how it feels to have
someone do terrible and unspeakable things to you. God in the flesh knows what
it's like to come try to make things better for the whole world, His children,
and end up being betrayed by them.
But here is the thing...When Judas
committed suicide because he couldn't live with the guilt of what he did, God
didn't celebrate yelling, "Justice has been served". And when the
Roman empire fell, Jesus wasn't up in Heaven saying, "Serves them
right".
You may ask, "How do you know
this?"
- I know because on the cross Jesus
said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing." (Luke 23:34)
- I know because when Jesus taught
he told people to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
(Matthew 5:44)
- I know because Ezekiel 33:11 says
'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign lord, I take no pleasure in the
death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live."
- And I know because the Bible
teaches us, "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not
let your heart rejoice, or the lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath
away from them." (Proverbs 24:17-18).
I believe that people can be really
hurt by a catastrophic event. It can scar them, change their lives, and cause
them to carry around a lot of baggage. I also believe that often people don't
know what to do with their hurt and so they jump on the bandwagon of hatred,
trying to find solace in all the wrong places.
There are a lot of similarities between
9/11 and the crucifixion, but the major difference is where the people put
their trust. I ask you, do you wait on and live for revenge or do you do as
Jesus did and "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not
retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself
to him who judges justly." (1Peter 3:23)
Only one of these routes will lead
to true justice being fulfilled, and its not the one with hatred, slurs, and
ignorant Facebook statuses.
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