Last Monday, US President Joe Biden carried out a presidential duty for the final time when he pardoned two Turkeys, Peach and Blossom. The tradition of a President pardoning a turkey in the run up to Thanksgiving has its roots in the American Civil War, when Abraham Lincoln agreed to a request from his son to spare a turkey named Jack.
As President Biden pardoned the turkeys, there was lots of smiling and laughter. The mood was quite different a few days later however, as Biden did something he had repeatedly promised not to – and issued a post-Thanksgiving pardon to his son Hunter.
As recently as June, Biden said he would ‘not pardon’ his son. who was facing sentencing in two criminal cases on federal gun charges and federal tax evasion charges. Hunter, the first child of a sitting president to be criminally convicted, faced hearings later this month and potentially 17 years behind bars.
In July, the President’s spokesperson denied rumours that a pardon had been discussed: ‘It’s still a no, it will be a no, it is a no and I don’t have anything else to add. Will he pardon his son? No.’ Back then, there was still an election on the horizon, and Biden was still the Democratic candidate. Now, with just 50 days left in office, he has nothing to lose.
Will returning President Donald Trump follow suit and pardon some of those involved in the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021? Biden’s decision makes it easier for him to do so.
People are understandably outraged. CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said that the pardon will ‘tarnish Joe Biden’s legacy…he lied to us for a long time.’
Yet many of the same people who are outraged by Biden’s behaviour (or who will be outraged if Trump follows suit) expect God to do the same thing. The German poet Henrich Heine was asked by a priest on his deathbed if he expected God to forgive him. He is reported to have replied: ‘Of course God will forgive me; that's his job’. That is still a common attitude today: People may be less sure whether there is a God or not – but they are confident that if he exists, he’ll forgive them.
This attitude is sadly reinforced at many funerals, where those present are assured that the deceased is now in heaven, despite them having had no time for God and never asking for forgiveness. President Biden declared in May that ‘no one is above the law’. It’s a sentiment most of us agree with – yet somehow we expect God to act differently.
At this time of year, many people remember Jesus coming into the world. But why did he come? As Tim Keller memorably put it, Jesus came so that God could end evil without ending us. Jesus’ death was not a tragic accident – it was the very reason he came. God tells us that ‘all have sinned’ – and ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 3:23; 6:23). But on the cross Jesus paid that penalty, so that his people could go free.
Could God not just have forgiven us without Jesus having to come and die? In other words, could he not have let our wrong thoughts, motivations, words and actions go unpunished? The news headlines show we don’t think much of a human ruler who does the same. We wouldn’t want God turning a blind eye to those who sin against us or those we love – so why should it be different when it comes to our own wrongs? Certainly, God is love – but that doesn’t mean he will set aside his own law. Instead, he did something better. Jesus’ death displayed both God’s righteousness and justice (‘this was to show his righteousness…so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus’ – Romans 3:25-26).
The carol Hark the Herald Angels Sing describes the wonder of what Jesus coming into the world brings: ‘God and sinners reconciled’. That reconciliation was not cheap, however. Jesus, as the carol goes on to say, was ‘born that man no more may die’. For that to be possible, he would have to go to the cross. And if God, unlike Joe Biden, would not even pardon his own Son (as he bore his peoples’ sins) – how could we expect him simply to pardon us?
The good news of the gospel is that the price has been paid – all we have to do is believe.
Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 5th December 2024.