HE'D BE BETTER OFF DEAD
Raoul Moat, the fugitive gunman killed himself after a six-hour stand-off with armed police officers in a field at Rothbury in Northumberland. Police had been negotiating with Moat, who was cornered close to a river after a week-long manhunt. It was a tragic ending to a terrible week for the people of Rothbury in particular and the whole area in general. At the end there are two people dead, and two people quite seriously injured but recovering.
Here was a man who was embittered and angry. He felt he had been betrayed by his former girl-friend, misrepresented by the police and media, and abandoned by friends. Just before he shot himself he was heard to say, “I haven’t got a dad” and “nobody cares about me”. He also felt that the police had persecuted him over a long period of time. All in all he was a very sad man whose life seemed to have no point or meaning.
The tragedy of this man can be seen in the words of his mother who, at the time he was being hunted by the police, said, “He’d be better off dead”. A retired policeman speaking on the radio and analysing what the police would be doing predicted that he would kill himself, and then added, “I would not be sorry if that was the end result.”
So here was someone who could see no value in his own life and of whom others came to feel that death would be the best solution to the terrible mess he had produced for himself. Similar things were said and undoubtedly thought about Derrick Bird who was responsible for the recent killings in Cumbria.
But we must ask the question whether death is ever the best answer. Can it be said of anyone, no matter what evil they perpetrate, that “they are better off dead”? Death may be what Oliver Cromwell once called “cruel necessity”, but can we pronounce it the best solution? The issue raised by these events and comments is what is death? And that is a question that our culture cannot answer.
But what is death? The Bible teaches that death itself is a real evil. It is the result of man’s rebellion and sin against God. Death is an enemy1. It takes men from this life, where they can prepare to meet with God, to that awesome event of meeting God for final judgment2. It is not the end, as some would argue and many assume. It is the transition point from the physical life we all know in this world, to that on-going life that lies before us in eternity. That life is described by the Bible as being either full of bliss3 or full of sorrow, regret and unremitting anger4. The determining factor as to which that future life shall be is our relationship with God.
At the very heart of the Gospel is the message that Jesus Christ came to deal with the reality of the horror of death, and to remove its terror and threat. What makes death so dreadful is what it leads us on to5. Those awesome words “after death, judgment” ring in the hearts of every man. Even those who dismiss all religion and claim that “when you’re dead you’re dead” – there is nothing beyond that – have no certainty about it. Deep in the consciousness of every man is an awareness of eternity6 and the quiet voice of conscience reminds them of it constantly. That is why people have a natural fear of death. Yes, the process of death is sometimes terrifying in itself, but there is also in the very depths of our consciousness, this dread of death and what will follow, that is there whether we are facing death or not.
That is why the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is described as being for the purpose of setting people free from the captivity of the fear of death7. In Christ, through faith in Him, we can be free from the fear of death and the power of death. The judgment of God no longer threatens us because Jesus has died in our place and paid the full penalty of our sins8. Death has been turned from the door to the awesome confrontation with an offended God and the certainty of eternal perdition in hell, to the entrance into acceptance by God and the eternal bliss of fellowship with Jesus9. What is more, the triumph of Jesus over death and the effectiveness of His love and mercy in our lives means that even in the most dreadful processes of death there is comfort and strength.
So is Raoul Moat better off dead? Sadly I think not. Throughout the whole hunt for him I prayed that he might be spared and that by God’s grace he might hear about the love of Christ that can change lives and bring real meaning and value to the most hopeless of people. It is true that for a Christian we can really look on death as a ‘happy release’ and without being morbid, thank God for His love when He finally calls someone home to Himself. But for other people we must long that their day of dying be delayed until they have heard of Christ and by God’s power and goodness have been brought to trust in the Lord. Then they will know the full blessedness of sins forgiven and the hope of heaven. Then, and only then, are they ready to die.
Roger Hitchings
10 July 2010
Notes (all references to the Bible):
1 1 Corinthians 15:26
2 Hebrews 9:27
3 Matthew 25:21 & 23
4 Matthew 13:42 & 49-50
5 1 Corinthians 15:56
6 Ecclesiastes 3:11
7 Hebrews 2:14-15
8 Romans 8:1-4
9 2 Corinthians 5:8