Two weeks ago we saw the face of evil again. It showed up in a supermarket parking lot.
Jared Loughner’s picture from a Tucson, Arizona courtroom was stunning. The face of evil looked so human. No devilish horns and no pitchfork. He was just smirking.
His face was the face of any man. It could have been someone you knew.
Almost four years ago we grieved for students gunned down at Virginia Tech. Now we grieve again. For a nine-year-old girl. For a young man engaged to be married. And for an elderly husband protecting his wife. We have prayed with and for those who were hurt so deeply.
Now our focus is shifting. We are trying to understand why someone would do this. What was the shooter thinking? His video ramblings don’t help much. They leave us with more questions than answers. Others who are similarly deranged haven’t gone on killing sprees.
How can we comprehend such evil? How could someone commit such a crime?
Studies have been done on crime for years. Theories abound as to what causes it. Some thought it was the environment or the shape of a person’s head (Really?). After years of research and countless dollars, one study simply concluded that criminals cause crime.
Another expert observed that even babies—our ‘little angels,’—can become so angry that, if they had adult strength and abilities, they would probably kill or maim another person.
So much for everyone being “really ‘good’ deep down inside.” Is humanity hopeless?
Well hold on just a minute!
God says the problem is the human heart. Speaking through the Biblical prophet Jeremiah he said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”
According to our Maker, evil intentions became the ‘default mode’ of the human heart after our first parents’ fall into sin. Instead of asking, “Why is there evil behavior?” we ought to ask, “Why isn’t there MORE criminal behavior?” The answer to that mystery is in the Bible.
God’s Word teaches that God acts as a ‘Restrainer’ in our world. Without God’s divine intervention, evil would be worse than it is. His purpose is revealed by the Scripture that says, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
In the New Testament Gospel of John Jesus observed, “Men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” He adds, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”
The darkness of the human soul has a remedy. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Through his death and resurrection, light overcame the darkness of evil.
Later Jesus sent the Apostle Paul to announce to the world that, through faith in the risen Christ, God would “open their eyes and turn them from darkness to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins.”
Crime started near the Garden of Eden with the first murder. It ends at Jesus’ cross with mercy and forgiveness. Through his sacrifice, evil’s darkness can be removed from us one person at a time.
Each of us must respond to the good news that Christ died for our sins. That’s why Christians want everyone to hear about Jesus who said, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” Only Jesus can save you from the evil in your own heart.
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