“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
I had an odd question today that came to mind. What would Jesus do with Osama Bin Laden? I’m not one to be dogmatic about this, but I have an idea how the conversation might go.
I don’t think Jesus would condemn Osama. After all, He didn’t come to condemn, but to save. I truly think Jesus would say something like, “Osama, I’m coming over to your house for dinner.” I think Jesus would show Osama a God he had never seen, a God of love and compassion and forgiveness.
Look at Zaccheus, a tax collector who robbed people blind. Look at Saul, who later became Paul. He persecuted and killed Christians and was the #1 enemy of the Church before he was radically saved and transformed. Look at any of the disciples, who were far from the elite or cream of the crop. Look at the thief on the cross.
I think Jesus would say that no one is ever beyond redemption. He would say it’s never too late to start over. He would say that His grace is sufficient for anyone, no matter what they’ve done. That Divine Love is more powerful than any ideology or cause or man-made religion or anything else in this world.
Did Osama deserve to die for all his wrongs? Yes. Do we deserve to die for all the times we’ve sinned and rebelled against a Holy God? Yes. But we got grace instead, because we said YES to Jesus. I wonder if Osama ever heard someone tell him that Jesus loved him. Maybe. Maybe not.
I guess what I’m driving at is that we can’t ever give up on anybody ever. We can’t condemn anybody because that could be any of us but by the grace of God. All we can do is love Jesus and believe that through Him everybody is welcome, nobody is perfect and anything is possible (something I borrowed from Cross Point Church).
That’s all.
Ragamuffingospelfan's Blog 
Greg, I see where you are coming from but in this age where people forget history and theology let me help you recall a couple of things.
First, God Himself ordained three institutions in human life to protect it, namely the Church, government, and marriage. God established government to protect its citizens and enact justice (Justice itself is a Holy attribute of God’s character). Within government God Himself established capital punishment or as we call it “the death penalty”. Team Six enacted the death penalty in a culture that would have him (usama) used as a political and religious martyr.
Second, don’t forget that Paul makes it very clear that Christ’s return will not be one lavished in grace but that as the Apostle’s Creed phrased it “And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.” He returns as our Judge.
That’s why I disagree with you. If we had a biblical interaction of Jesus and Barabus (also a mass murderer) then I might be of a different perspective, but Zaccheus was following man’s law (Rome’s at least, and Rome governed Israel at the time) but was unethical towards his brother Jews. This is quite different than a man who plotted and enabled the deaths of not only Americans, but people from many countries and religions.
You are right that we as Christians are not to give up on someone with the Gospel, and we are to enact grace and mercy to those around us, but we are also to not interfere when government does what is right (in our Republic I’d say we don’t interfere enough when it does something wrong but that is another subject). We also cannot mix the roles of the Government with the Church or with the role of Marriage. Though, they are interlinked and have influence on each other they have different tasks and roles to fill in every society.
Greg, I think that you remind your readers (many of whom are friends of mine and not steeped in deep theological understanding) of an excellent point. While there are deeper theological arguments that can be had, a great majority of Christians want to applaud Osama’s death, not because justice was served (which it was) but because HA!! REVENGE!! And that should never be our response. Justice was served, and God is just, and of this we are grateful. But you remind us that we should not click our heels with joy because Osama, or anyone, is now suffering eternal damnation in the fire that is never quenched and with the worm that never dies. A good reminder to your reader.