ON HOPE AND MERCY

“Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air...but only for about one second without hope!”  ― Hal Lindsey

A true story is told of a man who was a close follower of a good, peaceful, and charismatic reformer in a developing country.  The reformer spoke out against the corruption, hypocrisy, and social injustices occurring there, and he became very popular with the people of his country especially the poor and the oppressed.  They even wanted to make him their King.  And this man (who was his follower) thought that he'd be able to ride his coattails into a powerful and lucrative position when the reformer became King. 

Unfortunately, the peaceful reformer made many powerful enemies among the political intelligentsia who worried that once he became King they'd lose all their perks and privileges.  But they were worried that if they arrested him on some trumped up charges the people would riot and civil war might ensue.  So they hatched a plan and enlisted the help of this man (his close follower) by offering him a huge bribe to betray the reformer. 

This man, having grown disillusioned with the peaceful reformer because he felt his political star was falling, took the bribe and betrayed him to his enemies.  The reformer was arrested in the middle of the night, brutally tortured, and finally executed.  His enemies wanted to make an example of him in order to keep the people in subjection.    

After the reformer's gruesome torture and death, this man became deeply remorseful over what he had done to cause the death of this innocent man.  He didn't think his political enemies would go so far as to torture and execute a good and peaceful man.  He just thought they'd put him in prison for awhile and that would be the end of it.  The man was so overcome with guilt that he took his own life!  Indeed, a tragic story worthy of a play by William Shakespeare.  

And the moral of the story is this: essentially this man took his own life because he lost all hope.  He didn't believe that God could forgive him for the terrible thing he had done.  And by despairing of God's infinite mercy Judas Iscariot committed the greatest and most unforgivable sin of all.  

God's mercy is greater than all the sins of the world!  Sooner would heaven and earth cease to exist than God would cease to be merciful to a repentant sinner.