Full and Unconditional Pardon
Last week, US President Joe Biden who repeatedly said that he would not use his executive authority to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, or commute his sentence, did a complete reversal and issued Hunter with a “full and unconditional pardon”. This was politically costly for him and the Democratic party, who were reported to be furious with him.
I cannot help but contrast this event with the message of Christmas – the righteous God made the ultimate sacrifice of His Son for the full and unconditional pardon of His elect, His human sons and daughters.
Putting aside the right and wrong of President Biden’s broken promise and political wisdom or lack thereof, I can empathise with his fatherly heart. This was his last opportunity to spare his son from a life-destroying prison sentence and give him the chance of making something useful of the rest of his life. How could he let it pass by, as a loving father? For that, he was willing to sacrifice his reputation and legacy.
That is probably where the parallel with God’s redemptive act ends. While Joe Biden only had to address his love for his son, political cost to himself, and perhaps also a degree of a sense of justice, our holy God had to deal with the harsh dilemma between His infinite fatherly love and His absolute justice as the righteous God. That drove Him to pay the unimaginable cost of sacrificing Himself, in the person of His Son for our sake.
Like Hunter Biden, we are guilty. Unlike him, whose punishment, for political reasons, would have been much more severe than he deserved had he not been pardoned by his father, eternal death is our just deserts according to God’s righteous law. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rm 5:8
In this period of Advent, may the Holy Spirit renew our sense of gratitude and amazement for the gift of His Son by our Heavenly Father in His unfathomable grace and love.
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完全及無條件的赦免
美國總統喬·拜登先前曾多次表示他不會使用自己的行政特權給兒子亨特·拜登（Hunter Biden）特赦，但在上周，他完全改變了立場，向亨特頒發了“完全及無條件的特赦”。這一舉動使他和民主黨在政治上付上巨大代價。據報道稱民主黨對此憤怒不已。
我不禁將這事與聖誕的信息對照 —— 公義的神為祂所揀選的民、祂的兒女們，付出了極重的犧牲，賜下祂的兒子作為贖罪祭，以至讓他們可完全及無條件得赦免。
放下談論總統拜登違背承諾的對錯及此舉在政治上是否有智慧的爭議, 我能同情他作為父親的心腸。這是他最後一次機會去豁除能毀掉兒子一生的監禁, 並給他一個重新建立餘生的機會。作為一位慈愛的父親, 他又怎可能由得此機會溜走? 為此, 他甘願犧牲了自己的聲譽和傳承。
這是與神施行救贖唯一相似之處。喬·拜登只需執行自己對兒子的愛, 及考慮對自己在政治上要付的代價, 或許還有在某程度上考慮此舉的公義問題。但我們聖潔的神卻要面對最嚴峻的兩難, 就是同時要成全祂無限的父愛及聖潔的神之公義, 而促使祂付出難以想像的代價, 就是犧牲他自己, 及他聖子的位格為我們捨身。
像亨特·拜登一樣，我們都有罪。與他不同的是，若不是他父親的行使特赦，他會受的懲罰, 因政治上的爭鬥, 是超乎他應得的，而我們根據神公義的律法，永遠的死亡確是我們叛逆祂的人應得之報。「惟有基督在我們還作罪人的時候為我們死, 神的愛就在此向我們顯明了。」羅5:8
在這個將臨期中, 願聖靈幫助我們、因着天父那深不可測的恩典和大愛， 並賜下祂的獨生子為禮物，重新激發我們對祂感恩與讚嘆之心。
Rev. Christopher Chan
