Understanding Justice: UnitedHealthcare CEO and Juror #2

Last week, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered. Husband, father, community member, and leader of a business that employs hundreds of thousands of people.

To my dismay, there were many who actually celebrated his death. They posted nasty comments and made jokes of the situation.

They justified his death.

To many, Brian represented the “corrupt and greedy” industry of healthcare. And, to be fair, when I hear stories of how people have been denied care because of health insurance it is infuriating. I cannot imagine losing someone because of a hang up with insurance. And UnitedHealthcare is considered one of the worst offenders of denying care.

Right after Brian’s murder, Anthem, another health insurance provider, changed its course on a policy that had been stirring outrage. They had considered a policy where, if a surgery was taking longer than expected, they would not provide anesthesia coverage for the extra time. People would wake up during their surgery because insurance refused to pay. Getting a policy like this to change is good, right?

What is our view of justice? Was the shooter justified?

Juror #2

Olga and I watched a good movie called Juror #2. Huge spoiler alert!

In the movie, a guy is put on jury duty of a murder case. In the case, a lady had been walking home in the rain when, presumably, her boyfriend attacked her, killed her, and dumped her body in a creek bed.

As Juror #2 heard the details of the case, the date, the road it happened on, and the innocent pleading of the boyfriend, he became convinced that he had hit and killed this lady in his car.

The night of the murder, he had been at the same bar as the couple. He was there as he struggled with the death of his children. He left the bar distracted, in pain in the pouring rain. His phone dings, he looks down, and simultaneously hits something. It was a common deer crossing area, so after a quick look, he assumed that is what happened.

But now it was clear to him that it must have been the young lady.

What do you do? Convict the boyfriend? Or tell the judge that it is in fact you who are guilty of murder? Would you like to go to jail for life or have someone else take your place?

Justice

I refuse to believe that I am better than Brian Thompson. And I don’t think people who are celebrating his murder are either. Is greed more offensive than murder? The Bible gives interesting perspective on murder, that those who hold unrelenting anger in their heart towards someone has already murdered them in their heart. There is a large number of people in our communities who have committed murder in their heart of many CEO’s.

When I think about justice, I think about Jesus. Jesus was done so wrong. He was a carpenter’s son. A teacher. A healer. Though a bit radical, how could you claim he wasn’t a benefit to the community? He was sinless, never doing anything or anyone wrong. Taking care of the least of these.

And still, the people crucified him.

I think that’s the story being laid out in Juror #2. The juror is guilty of murder. And yet he sits in a position to cast the blame and punishment onto someone else. Rather than face the things he has done, he crucifies the boyfriend that he, the juror, may go home and live free.

It is our sin that held Jesus on the cross. That there is a punishment for the wrong you have done in this life. But Jesus in his love for you offered to take your sentence.

Many sit behind the keys of their computer and type out hateful comments surrounding the death of Brian, not remembering that they, too, are guilty of many things. If justice were truly served at the end of a gun, everyday would be a shootout.

Justice is not served by vigilantes in masks with guns. Justice is served by a righteous king on a cross.

Let God judge the proud and wicked. For us, may we do our best to live at peace with all people, expressing with our lives the love of Jesus Christ.

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