Today it was announced that the body discovered in Arvada was that of Jessica Ridgeway. This is what we all had feared had happened since it was announced that she went missing last week. Police are combing our streets and the FBI is working the case. I cannot imagine what her parents are going through right now. As a parent its my worst nightmare. Personally its really difficult to discern how to address this with my children. I don’t want them walking in fear, having nightmares or being paranoid. At the same time I want them to be cautious, wise and discerning. Its made me second guess allowing them to walk to and from the bus stop which is less than a block from my house. Honestly at the end of the day it leaves me angry, really, really angry. Furious may be a better way to put it. On top of that, the anger that I feel, feels right. I’m old enough to know that just because I feel it doesn’t make it right, but as I examine scripture I’m convinced that this falls in the category of righteous anger. In fact God is angry about this, furious even.
When sin came into the world all bets were off. When Adam and Eve decided that God was holding out on them and that they knew a better path to joy the whole world started unraveling. What started with simply eating fruit (Genesis 3:6) spiraled in short order to one brother brutally murdering another (Genesis 4:8). Sin has always grieved God and God has been clear that the wages for sin is death (Romans 6:23). In a day when the reality of hell is debated on blogs, books and film we are very quick to hope and pray that hell is real at least for the kind of person who would brutally murder a little girl. On a day like today we are happy to have a God who has a standard and who punishes sin. On a day like today we want justice. On a day like today we are happy to have a God who says “vengeance is mine” (Deuteronomy 32:35). One of the things that I think is helpful for victims to understand is that God did not miss what was done to them and it will be punished. There are two options either sin was punished in the form of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and forgiveness is made available to those who believe in Him (John 3:16-17) or it will be punished (Matthew 25:31-46). When I heard the news that the body was that of Jessica Ridgeway the first two verses that came to mind were Romans 12:15 and Deuteronomy 32:35. This is a time to mourn with those who mourn and to trust that God has not missed this. Unless the person who did this repents and trusts that Jesus died for him while he was still an enemy of God (Romans 5:1-11), that Jesus literally became his sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), then this person will be punished, eternally according to what he has done. God cares, He has not missed this, He is furious and it grieves Him deeply. John 3:36 says it clearly “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” I cannot fathom the grief that Jessica’s parents and family are experiencing right now. I pray that they can trust that whether justice is ever meted out by human hands it either was meted out fully on the cross, or will be meted out fully when this person stands before the one true God.
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