‘He Ought Not to Live any Longer’

[Acts 25:23-27]

If you were a university professor, how would you deliver your 'last lecture'?  I became interested when I read an article last Friday (July 25, 2008) on the front page of CNN.com titled "'Last lecture' professor taught others how to live."  In the article, it discussed Randy Pausch, a 47-year-old professor at Carnegie Mellon University who, as a husband and father of three, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given only 3 to 6 months to live.  About a month later, in September 2007, he delivered his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University, sharing not only the content of his final lecture but also the news of his impending death.  Curious about the lecture, I went to YouTube.com and listened to the summarized content. The lecture was titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," and he began by posing the question, 'If you were to give your last lecture, how would you do it?'  One part of the lecture that resonated with me was when he talked about applying for a job at Disney, recalling his childhood dreams.  After being rejected and emphasizing the importance of persistence, he stated: "The brick walls are there for a reason ... to show us how badly we want something, … because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people.  Professor Pausch, despite facing rejection when attempting to fulfill his childhood dream of working at Disney, was an unstoppable individual.  Ironically, he became even more famous while living with terminal cancer, inspiring many through interviews and, especially, his last lecture (which received 3.2 million views on YouTube after being uploaded last December).  Upon learning last Friday that he had ultimately succumbed to pancreatic cancer, I couldn't help but think, ‘Oh, that person should have lived longer.’  However, individuals like Randy Pausch, who make us think, ‘Oh, he should have lived longer,’ are not the only ones we encounter in life.  There are also those who make us think, ‘Oh, that person probably shouldn't have lived longer.’  For instance, if you read the news in Korea online these days, you may occasionally come across reports of gruesome murder cases.  While reading such news, seeing the police searching for various parts of a mutilated corpse, you can't help but wonder how someone could kill another person in such a manner.  Thoughts might even drift towards the idea that the person who committed such a heinous act may not be someone worth keeping alive.  Of course, life and death are under God's control.  I believe that God has a purpose for everyone born on this earth.  Yet, even with this understanding, when reading news about someone taking another person's life in such a brutal way, thoughts may lean towards, ‘This person may not be someone worth sparing.’

Looking at today's passage, Acts 25:23-27, we see a loud cry from all the Jewish people declaring that there is a person who must not be allowed to live.  That person is none other than Paul, who preaches the gospel of the living Jesus Christ.  As we have already meditated, Paul was a blameless person.  He strongly asserted his innocence, even to the point of risking his life (v. 11).  He declared, "I have committed no offense, either against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar" (v. 8).  He had not done any wrong to the Jewish people (v. 10).  Despite this, Paul was marked as a person who must not be allowed to live by all the Jewish people.  In today's terms, from the perspective of all the Jews at that time, Paul was like a condemned criminal.  All the Jews wanted Paul to be sentenced to death.  Therefore, they tried to bring Paul to trial by appealing to Governor Felix, then two years later to Governor Festus, and even organized a conspiracy to kill Paul without proper legal proceedings (Yoo).  However, contrary to the viewpoint of these Jews, Governors Felix and Festus did not find any evidence of crime deserving death (24:22, 25:25).  In particular, Governor Festus testified to King Agrippa, saying, "I found he had done nothing worthy of death" (v. 25).  Governor Festus, having examined Paul in a trial initiated by the Jewish religious leaders, concluded that Paul had not committed any crime deserving death.  However, since Paul had appealed to Caesar, making it impossible to send him to Caesar without a charge under Roman law, Governor Festus presented Paul before King Agrippa and the prominent officials of Caesarea today (25:27).  Interesting, isn't it?  On the one hand, people are shouting that Paul must not be allowed to live, while on the other hand, Governor Festus states that Paul has committed no crime deserving death.  Which side is right?  Of course, we know that Governor Festus is correct.  We know that Paul did not commit any crime deserving the death penalty.  Nevertheless, despite this fact, Paul was labeled by all the Jews as a person who must not be allowed to live.

It is reported that South Korea has essentially become a country that has abolished the death penalty since no executions have been carried out in the last ten years, as of December 30, 2007.  However, about two months ago, there was renewed attention on the death penalty system when Suwon District Court sentenced Sung-hyun Jung (39 years old), accused of murdering three individuals, including An Yang-chodong elementary school students Hye-jin Lee and Ye-seul Woo, to death (Internet).  Particularly, Governor Moon-soo Kim of Gyeonggi Province sparked a public debate on the death penalty system, stating, ‘Our country, which does not execute those like Young-chul Yoo, who killed 21 people, is a country without human rights,’ and emphasizing the need to execute the death penalty quickly (currently, there are about 60 death row inmates in Korea).  According to a survey conducted by the opinion research institution ‘Real Meter’ on March 21, 2008, as reported on SBS's 'Eo-jun Kim's News and Joy,' the opinion that 'the death penalty should be abolished' was at 22.2%, while 'it should be maintained' was at 57.0%.  The survey results indicated a surge in the opinion that the death penalty should be maintained, following the An Yang elementary school abduction and murder case (Internet).  However, among those campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty, a letter sent by former President Dae-jung Kim to the International Amnesty Commission (Amnesty) in June 2006 reveals that he supported the abolition of the death penalty for reasons such as the irreversible nature of executions, stating, ‘There is no way to correct the wrong after the execution. ... We cannot completely exclude the possibility of prosecutors or judges making wrong judgments.’  Former President Kim cited past cases of judicial murder in South Korea, such as the wrongful execution of individuals associated with the In-hyeok-dang incident.  He argued, ‘There are many cases in which dictators wrongly used the death penalty as a means to suppress and expel advocates of democracy and political opponents. ...  In Korea, those involved with In-hyeok-dang were wrongly prosecuted and executed, and even I narrowly escaped the death penalty (Internet).

I am not attempting to engage in a debate for or against the death penalty here.  However, I do believe that in this world, there are people who unjustly await the day to be put to death even though they are innocent.  In Acts 25:23-27, all the Jews cried out that Paul was a person who out not to live any longer (v. 24).  Was Paul, who proclaimed the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as he went about, truly a person not to be kept alive?  Was he someone who deserved to be put to death?  Reflecting on the Apostle Paul, who, as a prisoner condemned by all Jews, bears the stigma of being a condemned man, I thought of Jesus.  When Jesus was accused, Pilate, unable to find any fault in Him, declared, "I find no guilt in this man" (Lk. 23:14).  Pilate knew that there was no reason to put Jesus to death (v. 15).  Yet, despite finding no guilt in Him (v. 22), Pilate yielded to the clamor of the crowd, allowing Jesus to be crucified on the accursed cross, demanded by the people in the tumult arising from the release of Barabbas (vv. 18-19), urging, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" (vv. 21, 23).  How unjust was this death in the eyes of us humans?  Jesus, who was entirely innocent, was nailed to the cross, the cursed tree, from the Jewish perspective.  Shouldn't Barabbas, who incited riot and committed murder, have been put to death instead?  Why did Jesus, who was innocent and the eternal Son of God, have to come into this world in human form and die on the cross at Golgotha after 33 years?  The reason is to give us the gift of eternal life, a gift that the world cannot offer but only God can.  Look at Romans 6:23 - "... the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Don't you want to receive this gift of eternal life?  This gift of eternal life is only possible through saving faith: "... Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household" (Acts 16:31).

A sinner who cannot be kept alive forever,

James Kim

(Reflecting on Jesus, who was nailed to the cross and died for sinners like me)