When I Have to Pray for a Murderer

As a Messianic Jew or a Jewish believer in Yeshua (Jesus), there are times in my life when my faith is very comfortable and comforting. For instance, over the past month, some dear friends had a baby girl and I rejoiced in seeing that beautiful little gift of G-D in the arms of her mother. I was also blessed to officiate the wedding of the daughter of long time friends and celebrated as G-D performed the miracle of making a man and woman one flesh. Lifecycle events such as births, circumcisions, weddings, and even funerals are times where I am very comfortable within my faith. While sometimes these events can be difficult emotionally, they do not cause me to struggle within myself as to how my faith would require me to react or respond.  

However, there are times in life when things happen that are so far outside of the normal that I honestly struggle with doing what my faith expects of me. Recently, two events took place that received a great deal of media attention. The first was when a young woman, a refugee from the war in Ukraine, was brutally stabbed to death while riding a train. The second was the assasination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus. While these two events are the most recent, they are not the only incidents that caused me to have an internal battle between how my flesh and mind want to respond and how my faith demands me to respond.

Please don’t think that I am advocating that the individuals involved in these horrific acts should not be tried and if found guilty punished to the fullest extent of the law, because that is not where I am going with what I am writing. The Bible is very clear about establishing courts, promoting justice, and holding people responsible for criminal actions.

The part I am wrestling with is the balance between my strong desire for justice and my faith's requirement that I walk as a disciple or follower of Yeshua. While I absolutely believe that the Bible commands that people should be held accountable for their actions through a justice system, I also know what 1 John 2:1 says:

1 My children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Intercessor with the Father—the righteous Messiah Yeshua.

Notice that John shares in this verse that if we sin, we have a righteous Messiah, Yeshua, to intercede for us with the Father. If this is true, and I believe that it is, then if we are followers of Yeshua, it is also our responsibility to advocate for sinners to the Father. I don’t think these two Biblical concepts are opposing. I believe that we can strongly demand that those who commit crimes be held to account for their acts while at the same time we have a responsibility to advocate on their behalf to G-D concerning their souls. We must realize that there are two different justice systems operating: one temporal and one eternal. We are commanded to establish courts and cry out for justice for those who violate just laws. We are also commanded to follow the example of Yeshua and advocate for the souls of those who have sinned in hopes that G-D’s Spirit can somehow bring them to a place of repentance. 

After all, the word translated in 1 John 2:1 as the word intercessor is the same word that was translated in as Helper in John 15:26-27:

26 “When the Helper comes—whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—He will testify about Me. 27 And you also testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

In these verses, Yeshua is sharing about how the disciples should respond to those who hate G-D and G-D’s people. Yeshua says He will send the Helper/Advocate, the Spirit of Truth. He goes on to say not only would the Spirit testify of Him, but His disciples would also testify of Him. In other words G-D’s Spirit is given to us to help us advocate and intercede even for the souls of those who hate G-D and the people of G-D. So while we should strongly cry out for justice when horrifying acts of violence occur, we as believers are also commanded to pray for the souls of those who committed those horrid acts with sincere hope that they would hear G-D’s voice and come to repentance. 

There are times when my faith requires me to do what my humanity recoils at. Times when following the example of Yeshua takes more effort because of what my eyes have seen and my heart has felt. At those times, I remind myself that my prayers for those who commit vile acts are not said to free them from justice and judgement in this world, but rather that they might find repentance before they stand before the One and Only True and Living G-D, the final judge.