Capital Punishment And The Gospel

The death penalty. The ultimate penalty. To me it cuts to the core. Yesterday, I read of a man who was executed in the State of Texas for murdering a police drug informant. Obviously, his crime is indefensible. Why? Because killing is indefensible (perhaps allowing for exceptional circumstances, such as killing to save the life of someone else.) The man had an IQ of 61. That alone was enough to get me thinking.

I have always had a hard time with capital punishment. I came to faith as an adult, and when I told my first pastor that I was opposed to capital punishment, he asked me why. I told him that it was because mistakes couldn't be reversed; that an innocent man executed could not be given his life back. Because I was concerned about the possible execution of the innocent, I was accused by my then pastor of being a "humanist." If concern about the possibility of innocent people being executed is "humanistic" then so be it, with great respect to my former pastor. That may be a humanist or secular perspective in that it doesn't really grapple with either God or gospel on the issue. Now, I myself am a pastor, sometimes called to give advice to people who are grappling with big issues of morality and faith. Almost 30 years after that conversation, and in the light of the Texas execution, let me now grapple with God and gospel on the issue of capital punishment. What is sacred? Is anything sacred? Is life sacred? And if life is sacred, is that all life, or do those who take life have the sacredness of their lives taken away, so that we have the right to take that life in return? And where and how does the cycle end? What does the Gospel have to say about any of this?

As far as I know, there is only one instance of Jesus specifically dealing with a person who was guilty of what - according to the law - was a capital offense. It's the story of the woman caught in adultery, as related in John 8. (Before you think it, yes, I know some people feel that this passage isn't "original," and that it was a later add on. That really doesn't matter. The Scriptures are the Scriptures; the story is there; it must be addressed and it is foundational to Christian faith because of its status as Scripture.)

According to the Law of Moses, adultery was a capital offense. The punishment was to be stoned to death. What happens in this story fascinates me and guides me on this subject. The mob is chasing the woman, ready to stone her; ready to execute her in compliance with the law. Jesus appears. He does not condemn the mob or the mob's judgment of the woman. Indeed, he seems to agree with the mob. The woman is guilty of a capital offense, and according to the law she deserves to die. Jesus does not argue that point. Indeed, he invites the mob to execute her. He makes an open invitation for an executioner - "whichever of you is without sin, cast the first stone." And the mob, cut to the core by his words, melts away. None were worthy of taking the woman's life, guilty though she was and as deserving of death as she was according to the Law.

The irony is that the only one present who was worthy to take her life refused to do so. That was Jesus. "Your sins are forgiven. Now go and sin no more." He had no guarantee that the woman would sin no more. But even Jesus - the only one who could have executed her based on the standards he established - said "no."

Let me anticipate an objection. Some will undoubtedly say "wait a minute. That was adultery; capital punishment now is (or would be) for murder." On the one hand, that's true. On the other, I don't see that it's relevant. All that's relevant is that adultery was a capital offense in Jesus' day. The fact that it isn't taken that seriously now doesn't change the fact that it was taken that seriously in Jesus' day. All that matters is that Jesus is dealing with a woman accused and apparently "convicted" (because - again - Jesus doesn't seem to disagree with those who believe the woman should be executed) of a capital offense. By the standards of that day she was guilty of a crime heinous enough to carry the most extreme punishment imaginable - the forfeiture of her own life. Jesus' actions here are totally relevant to the issue of capital punishment today.

As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing in the New Testament - not even Romans 13:4 - that justifies breaking this example set by Jesus. The state may - and, according to Paul, must - punish. But no one - not you, not me, not the state, not anyone else - has the right to kill. "Whichever of you is without sin, cast the first stone." I know of no one - no person, no government, no state-sanctioned executioner - who qualifies to take the life even of those who are guilty according to that standard. I am opposed absolutely and totally and without any doubt or hesitation in my mind to capital punishment. It is an abhorrent repudiation of the example of Jesus, however you cut it. To argue otherwise is to ignore the clear witness of the gospel; the only example we have of Jesus dealing with such a matter.

So, to those who support capital punishment, I simply say - if you're a Christian, please don't do it with reference to God, to Jesus or to Scripture. Such a position would be untenable.