Martha prepared the tomb for him, a borrowed one offered because there was no place for his lifeless body to rest. He was reviled; he was despised; political authorities spent great effort to end his life. When they succeeded many in the community breathed a sigh of relief.
Many lives were changed because of his actions. The people who encountered him would never be the same.
Michael Catlett
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Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber, isn’t Jesus. Even to hint at a comparison will be distasteful to many and a sacrilege to some. Tsarnaev was a Muslim; Jesus was a Jew. Tsarnaev killed and maimed; Jesus healed. According to traditional Christian views Jesus was sinless; Tsarnaev was a heinous sinner. To mention the two men in the same sentence sounds blasphemous to followers of Jesus and irrelevant to anyone else.
The Martha Jesus knew was concerned Jesus be buried in accordance with tradition and custom. Martha Mullen, a Methodist layperson, was concerned Tsarnaev be buried in accordance with his traditions and custom. She understood he was a child of God whom God loved as much as God can love, which is far more than she or anyone can imagine. She thought it wrong his lifeless body was not treated with dignity. She understood his actions did not bear witness of that dignity; no one's actions bear constant witness of that dignity.
In an inspired moment Martha Mullen knew it was her opportunity to bear witness of the dignity imbued in all children of God. She made phone calls, called on people of different faiths to do what was right for a child of God who acted horribly wrong. Because of her concern, her efforts and her love of God Tsarnaev’s body is decently buried.
Some will continue to say that is far more than he deserves. It is, if the only things that matter are the things we have done. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Children of God don’t always act like God’s children. Yet every child is a child of God, and the image of God we bear can never be distorted beyond God's recognition.
Jesus pled for mercy for those who took his life; I trust he pleads for those who take the lives of other children of God. I didn't lose a leg or a loved one in the Boston blast. I cannot imagine the anger and grief of those who suffered and suffer still. I can begin to understand the fear and sorrow of a nation torn by violence. The decent burial of perpetrators of violence will not make us live or rest in peace.
Doing what is right and decent, respecting the humanity of those who refuse to respect the humanity of others, seeing each child as God's child — that’s a perspective that offers hope.
Jesus would have made those calls, would have offered his empty tomb, would have built the coffin and dug the grave if that’s what it took. All it actually took was a courageous woman convinced a wrong should be righted who made some calls.
I wish I’d made the calls. I wish we’d all made the calls.
Michael Catlett (mlcatlett@gmail.com) is retired pastor of McLean (Va.) Baptist Church.