A BLOODY CRIME SCENE

I saw in the news today that a mother in Florida, who having had all she could take of the back-talk from her two teens, walked up to them and shot them in the face. The crime scene was said to be so horrible, that the police officers who responded to the 911 call, required counseling. The father was serving overseas in the military. My first response was to ask how a mother could do such a thing to her own kids, but after thinking about it for a while, I have a question. How did those teens, being raised in a military family, ever get to the point that they defied their mother? As I remember my time in the service, I don't recall a military family in which the children were not taught discipline. The thing that all the branches of the military have in common is discipline. Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that all of the discipline was from the father, and the mother tried to be the "good cop." Once the "bad cop" had left, the kids had no respect for their mother. In order for parents to properly raise their children, they need to be in agreement. Amos 3:3 says it this way; "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Mixed messages lead only to confusion and rebellion.

This news story made me think of the Crucifixion of Jesus. Other than the obvious difference being that Jesus was innocent of any crime (Heb. 4:15), and the teens deserved some punishment, neither deserved to die in the manner in which they did. Ultimately, the teens like all who sin, do deserve death (Rom. 6:23), but certainly not at the hands of their mother.

The crime scene was apparently very bad, if the police needed counseling. I do not know what they saw, but it had to be worse than their usual call to a homicide. And yet, I wonder how those same officers would have responded to seeing a man nailed to a cross, having had a "crown" of thorns jammed into His scalp, and His body ripped to shreds? The Bible says that He was so badly beaten that He was unrecognizable (Isa. 52:14). When the spear jabbed into His side was removed, the water that surrounds the heart poured out with His blood, proving He was dead (Jn 19:33-37). It is true that He was not suffering any longer, but His disciples who witnessed His torturous death most definitely needed a comforting Counselor (Isa. 9:6). The resurrected Christ Himself was their Counselor!

The children's deaths served no purpose but to demonstrate the nature of their mother. The death of Christ, however, demonstrated the nature of God's love for us (Jn. 3:16). And because He was willing to shed His blood for the sin of all mankind, I am able to understand the love Christ had for me. The Bible says that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22). The reason His blood was poured out for us is that His life was in His blood (Lev. 17:11); it was the needed evidence He willingly offered His very life for us (Jn. 10:18).

While I am disgusted with the wave of crimes against children our country has experienced in the past few years, I am eternally thankful for the bloody crime scene that took place two thousand years ago. And I am also grateful that I have been given a Comforter/Counselor to help me through the hard times in my life (Jn. 14:16-17). God is so good!