Revenge

Yesterday, I was watching the show, the Mentalist. I have not seen this show before coming home from break, but after watching it once, I was taken in by the main character, Patrick Jane. He is ‘the mentalist’ and uses mental persuasion to solve crime. After watching a few more episodes, I learned that Jane’s wife and child were brutally murdered by a suspect only known as ‘Red John’. In the particular episode that I was watching last night, Jane was solving a murder involving a group of men who owned land, and were being burned to death by an unknown arsonist. Together the group had murdered a man who stood between them and a very profitable piece of land. Jane fabricated a story of revenge in order to catch the person who was killing the first group of three men who had killed Dave Martin out of greed. I wish I could explain the plot better, but it is kind of irrelevant to what I am talking about, which is revenge in general. This first scene takes place after an initial questioning of one of the suspects who killed Dave Martin. The charming Jane Patrick is discussing using this suspect, Muchato, as ‘bait’ to catch the killer who is now trying to murder the new land owners. In speaking of Muchato he describes him as the ‘tethered goat’. Jane is talking to his partner.

Patrick Jane- “He’s not a goat, he’s ‘goatish’, he deserves to suffer a little.”
“Nobody deserves murder!”
P- “Muchato helped burn Dave Martin alive- out of greed.”
“Jane, we’re officers of the law-”
P-“You are. I don’t care about the law. I care about justice, and justice says that Muchato deserves to suffer.”
“That’s not justice, that’s vengeance.”
P- “What’s the difference?”As Patrick is about to leave his partners office he steps back in.
P- “We’ve never discussed this, I thought that it went without saying, but when I catch Red John, I’m going to cut him up and watch him die slowly, like he did with my wife and child. If you have a problem with that, we should talk.”
“Then lets talk. Because when we catch Red John, we are going to take him into custody and he will be tried in a court of law.”
P- “Not if I’m still breathing.”
“If you try and do violence to him, I will try to stop you. If you succeed in doing violence to him, I will arrest you.”
P- “I understand.”
“I hope you do.”

In the final scene, Patrick is talking to the daughter of one of the men who was killed, named Maddie. In a fit of rage, she claimed that she wanted the killer, Tommy, to burn the way her father did. Patrick tries to convince her otherwise.

P- “Your father killed a man, and Tommy killed him out of revenge. You know that right? Revenge is a poison. Revenge is for fools and bad men.”
Maddie- “I don’t care!”
P- “Yes, you do.”

After Patrick and his partner have left, his partner, who engaged him in the first conversation questioned whether Patrick had changed his mind about revenge.

“Revenge is for fools and bad men?”
P- “Its quite good, I thought. A load of nonsense, but good.”

This episode was very thought provoking to me. I began to question what I would do if someone was taken from me, or harmed, by a stranger, by someone who killed or hurt just for their own pleasure. How would I respond if I had a baby, a little child, and some sick person decided to take them from me so that they could have a thrill? Its not pleasant to think about, but unfortunately, it is not something that just happens on television shows. It is a reality for some people, a horrific nightmare come true. I would say that if I had a child and it was killed or kidnapped, that I would let the law take care of it. I can say that now, with little hesitation. I don’t think that I would have the nerve to do that now, to take another life. Perhaps in defense, if I had to defend myself or a child, but not after the fact. How different would it be though, if 10 years from now, I had a child that I would give my life for? If it wasn’t just a hypothetical situation, but a reality. I think that I might surprise myself.All of that is without considering what the Bible has to say. In the Old Testament, in the law, justice was delivered in the form of what we might consider revenge. If a person was caught in the act of murder, there was little that he could do in order to escape ‘justice’. He was in the hands of those who were offended. Only in a city of refuge could he obtain a proper trial. Yet, what about the New Testament? What about “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.” What about forgiveness? I would probably have to say that if we are controlled by the love of Christ that we would we try to suppress what our carnal nature would cry out, “Revenge, revenge!” Rather than plotting to ‘cut him up and watch him die slowly’, we would try to offer forgiveness and love. I think it is safe to say that if not wanting to kill someone who murdered a loved one, I would definitely struggle with hating the killer. Yet look at Steve Saint. His father was brutally murdered by the people he was trying to minister to. And the very man who murdered his father is now the man who travels with Steve. I think that is what Christ would love to see in believers who have been so tragically wronged. Granted, in Patrick’s case, if Red John is not repentant, if he continues to kill without mercy (which he does) then I would not suggest to Patrick to buddy up with Red John. But if Patrick was a believer, controlled by the love of Christ, then he should seek to love and forgive Red John, and be content with what the law can provide of justice. To me it is the fall that even sparks this instinct in us to kill those who kill. It is the fall that would even move a person to take another human’s life. It is only because of the fall that people enjoy murder, enjoy rape, enjoy abuse. It is unfortunate to me that we go to movies and we enjoy films like Saw that are saturated in senseless violence. It is unfortunate that we enjoy violent video games. It does give me hope for the future, for a new earth, and a redemption of all mankind. There will be no need for vengeance, there will only be peace, and the ultimate justice.