Forgiving My Father, Forgiving MyselfНамуна

A Picture of Forgiveness

Some months later, I received an email from a man who had read on the internet about our team’s visit to Angola Prison. He wrote that he was interested in a man named Michael who was scheduled to die, and wanted to know if he had a personal faith in Jesus? He didn’t tell me his own story or why he wanted to know. After contacting the warden, I learned that the Michael he inquired of was the Michael I had met.

I emailed the man to assure him that Michael’s relationship with Christ was secure. “May I ask,” I wrote, “why you are interested in this particular young man?”

He responded that Michael had murdered his young grandson. He went on to explain that he had forgiven Michael years ago and had prayed for his salvation ever since. He said he took no pleasure in the young man’s impending execution and wanted to make sure he was going to heaven. Then he told me he was a missionary in Nepal. 

I marveled at this man’s forgiveness.

Forgiveness had broken the power of the evil deed. Forgiveness broke down the distance and the time. Forgiveness overcame his sorrow. It penetrated the cement walls and prison bars into death row, and it accepted that Michael’s eternal judgment and penalty for murder had been paid by Jesus. Michael was a man society wrote off, but neither God nor this grandfather forgot him. The blood of Jesus redeemed evil for good. Forgiving the unforgivable has an eternal impact.

This is far more than a touching story. I want the power of this man’s forgiveness toward a convicted killer to penetrate our lives in new ways. I want us to personally experience that depth of freedom that comes with forgiveness. For when it came to grace and forgiveness, both Michael and the missionary in Nepal knew a freedom I longed for in my own life.

Michael was executed for his crime, and I believe that in heaven, his reunion with this little boy will not be as victim and murderer but as sons of the living God. One day, this boy’s grandfather will join them—three souls gathered in heaven as forgiven saints redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Only forgiveness by God’s grace can do that! And that, to me, is miraculous—a life transformation that only takes place by the power of God.

How are you responding to the forgiveness shown Michael by the little boy’s grandfather? What might this response show you regarding your deeper beliefs about forgiving someone who has wronged you?