As Blind as Justice; As Redemptive as Life  

Posted by Tumwijuke Mutambuka in , , , ,

In the Bible, the physician Luke relates the story of a woman caught in adultery.

An angry mob of Pharisees brought the unnamed woman to Jesus demanding that as a respected leader and rabbi he should he should pass sentence on her.

Jesus, in typical style, didn’t respond immediately, letting the mob stew in its anger as he wrote something in the sand. Then he looked up gave them an answer that threw them completely off track.

“He who has not sinned, cast the first stone,” he said.

Convicted of their own sin and guilt, none in the mob could dare take action. None raised his fist in anger. None cast the first stone. Shame faced, they all went away.

Jesus in his compassion lifted the woman's head, looked her in the eye and forgave her sin.

A pastor in Kampala, Uganda would have served himself well by reading this story before he publicly humiliated his wife, accusing her of adultery.

On Monday October 2nd, after five years of marriage, Pastor David Kiganda of Christian Focus Center summoned the press and the Council of Elders from his church to witness his separation from his wife. She was compelled to read a long confession ‘admitting’ to her guilt, a confession that was promptly rubbished by him.

Pastor Kiganda had spent thousands of shillings tracking his wife’s movements and spying on her. Now he was happy that she had been caught. With a smirk on his face, he pronounced his wife guilty and invited a crowd to witness him pass sentence on her.

Despite her loud sobs and heart-wrenching pleas for forgiveness, the pastor scoffed at his wife’s sorrow, calling her a liar. He said he was humiliated because the man she allegedly chose to have an affair with was a simple street-side food vendor.

"Were her lover a rich tycoon," he said, "maybe I would have forgiven her."

His pride was clearly broken. His marriage has fallen apart. In his eyes, his wife was an object of scorn.

What Pastor Kiganda did not realize that life has a strange sense of humor. Hindus call it karma – the law of cause and effect. Paul the Apostle of Jesus said it so succinctly in his letter to the Galatians:

“Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. You reap what you sow.”


The man who sought to humiliate his wife, is now rejected for refusing to forgive. He who in his pride demanded justice for himself, is now seen as unjust and conniving. In his attempt to destroy his wife, the very man seeking to establish his masculinity was emasculated.

I don’t know that I would act differently if I was in the Pastor’s shoes. Would I throw the first stone? Probably …

I would like to embrace justice – boldly, blindly. And use the ironies of this life to heal when the worst is over.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 05, 2006 at 3:35 PM and is filed under , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

1 comments

Hello Omutahinga! LOL!

Well, I think when a person experiences the kind of intense feelings that are associated with the dispair of betrayal of the things we hold sacred, their reaction is not really rational. The quest for revenge overcomes every rational thought and self righteousness rears it's head.

I think also this kind of reaction is exacerbated by the fact that the person who was cheated on begins to feel guilty because they feel (or know) that somewhere something important was lacking in the relationship. Now whether this is true or not is not the issue, right? Human beings are not good barometers for truth.

So to get rid of their guilty concience they over analyze the situation and try to prove to everyone that they had absolutely no fault in the situation.

Great discussion!!!

Alala wan!!!

Ndungi

5:57 PM

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