In 2004, Iranian Ameneh Bahrami rejected Majid Movahedi’s marriage proposal. Days later, Movahedi attacked her, throwing acid in her face. Disfigured and blinded, she will always carry the scars of the crime.
A court ruled that the penalty for the brutal attack would be an “eye-for-an-eye retribution.” This meant that Movahedi was to be subdued, anesthetized, and then five drops of sulfuric acid would be placed in each of his eyes. Bahrami, the one who was to wield the acid, chose not to do it, forgiving Movahedi.
Movahedi’s actions were gruesome, and it seems that no punishment could be too harsh. I wonder, however, what retribution would have cost Bahrami? Would it have felt like justice—or revenge? Would the result have been some measure of closure or healing—or would it have inflicted a new type of scar? It certainly cost her something to forgive, but I wonder if it might have cost her more not to forgive?
At the center of the Christian story is good news: Because of Jesus and what He sacrificed, we can be forgiven. But this forgiveness came at a high price. Jesus abandoned His “divine privileges” as the Son of God, “humbled Himself,” and “died a criminal’s death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8). Forgiveness required God’s actions—His self-sacrifice. Forgiveness is free for us, but it exacted a massive cost from God.
When we follow Jesus in the way of forgiveness, we’ll pay a high price as well. When we release someone from the debt they owe us or when we let someone off the hook for their hurtful actions—these will cost us something.
To refuse to forgive, however, is far more expensive. If we will not forgive, we block our ability to experience God’s forgiveness toward us. We lose touch with the joy of mercy. These costs are far too high to ignore.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Ruth 4:1-22
More:
Read Luke 7:36-50. What’s the connection between forgiveness and love? How do these two mingle with one another?
Next:
Is there someone you need to forgive? Who needs to forgive you? What is the cost (in either case) if forgiveness doesn’t happen?
daisymarygoldr on March 20, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Q: So, how many times can I afford to have acid thrown in my face? A: Do not allow yourself to be hurt in the future by staying close to someone who has proven again and again to be untrustworthy. And how many times do I forgive the person who hurts me? 490 times. Seems illogical to my reasoning mind but that is what Jesus said.
It is the issue of justice that drives the high price of forgiveness. We feel helpless before those who have extracted the eye, tooth or the pound of flesh at our expense. Nonetheless, we follow Christ’s example to set aside justice and pay the price for the evil done to us. The cost is too high. This is why many withhold forgiveness.
You are absolutely right, Winn Collier; “To refuse to forgive, however, is far more expensive.” When we forgive others it is evidence of how much we have been forgiven by God. Those who have been forgiven much, love much.
Love alone has the power to stop the chain reaction of evil by choosing to repay evil with good. “The only way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a willing, living, human being. When it is absorbed there, like blood in a sponge or a spear thrown into one’s heart, it loses its power and goes no further.” — Gale D. Webbe
winn collier on March 22, 2012 at 4:18 pm
I like that image of being smothered, smothered in the power of love and forgiveness.