The Power of Forgiveness

“...and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belt; but to wear sandals; and He added, ‘Do not put on two tunics.’ And He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. And any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake off the dust from the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.’ And they went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, ‘John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.’ But others were saying, ‘He is Elijah.’ And others were saying, ‘He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’” Mark 6:8-15

From the land in which our Lord walked comes a story of mercy and forgiveness. In November of 1989, Sergeant Zeev Traum was patrolling the beach-front road south of Gaza City. He and another Israeli soldier were ambushed in their jeep by Palestinian gunmen. The 40-year-old’s death brought a unique dilemma for his widow. She could simply bury her husband, or donate his heart to an ailing Palestinian.

Bittersweet revenge could be found if she denied the request and let “one of them” die since “they” killed her husband. Instead, she opted to forgive. So outside the city walls where Jesus Christ replaced our heart with His, 54-year-old Hanna Khader, who had waited four months for a heart, received new life from his political enemy. In response, Zeev’s widow said, “if it’s possible to save a man’s life, I think it’s a mitvah (Commandment of Jewish Law or Meritorious Act).”