Dear Friends,
I have a number of questions surrounding the death of Osama bin Laden, although I’m not the only one asking them. What really happened when he died? Was he armed, or not? Did he use his wife as a human shield, or not? And why were these stories altered in the media so quickly? Why did the Americans seem to change their minds about releasing photos and even video footage of his death? How could Osama hide in plain view like that, and for so long? Did nobody really know who he was? Was justice really served in executing him like this, or would it have been better to arrest him and put him on trial, even with all the complications?
One thing I’m pretty sure of is that I’ll never learn the answers to all these questions, or perhaps to any of them. That’s true of so many things in life, where we just don’t know enough to make full and accurate judgments. Thankfully, God does not suffer from our limitations. He knows everything, and he knows it accurately, and so he can and does make right judgments. There will be a day of absolute truth, when God will bring to light what is hidden and even expose the motives of our hearts (1 Corinthians 4:5), and when he will judge the world with absolute justice (Acts 17:31). That ought to frighten those who will be on the wrong side of that judgment, as well as comforting those who will be safe because they trust in Jesus. Absolute truth and absolute justice – what a day!
Chris Hobbs.
Vicar.