MacGyver and the Quest for Vengeance (and Forgiveness)

It is the most natural and base of human instincts. My brother hit me. So of course I slap him back. I can’t let that go unchallenged and unpunished. Tit for tat. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” (Leviticus 24:20) It seems it’s so much harder to let it go and just walk away.
Yet this is one of the core qualities of our hero, MacGyver. And this is also something Christians are required to do. The balance between revenge and forgiveness is a theme that’s been on the forefront for me lately. This was a very strong driving force in the Spider-Man 3 movie, which I enjoyed a lot for this theme in the storyline. (And of course, for seeing an excellent portrayal of Sandman by Thomas Haden Church and getting to see the new Goblin as well as Venom all in one movie! :-)) It’s not on the official soundtrack for this movie, but I think a song from the new “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” album by Relient K should be on there. “Forgiven” is certainly one of their most powerful new songs from the album. Ultimately, Peter has to forgive Harry and even the Sandman (revealed to be the real killer of his Uncle Ben) and in doing so he’s able to forgive himself.
There is no denying that there is an innate desire in every person to see justice done and to see good triumph over evil. (This is why I and most of the viewing public can happily watch numbers of superhero movies and any heroic epic wherein the good guy prevails over adversities and obstacles and ultimately defeats the bad guys once more. No matter how many times we see it in however many forms, we never get tired of it- because it has a sense of rightness and completeness that comes with it.) When justice is doled out, we can be satisfied in knowing that all is right. We can see this clearly through the laws of governing and civil justice that God set down in Exodus 20-23 and throughout most of the book of Leviticus, as well as Deuteronomy. For example-
“If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death.” (Leviticus 24:17) God made people in His image (Genesis 1:27) and considers everyone priceless and anyone who would destroy the life He’s created must pay for this wicked deed. Thus we can sympathize with those who have lost loved ones and we understand the desire to see the guilty punished by their same measure. And we can identify with Hassan in the “Slow Death” episode of MacGyver.
Particularly in this one episode, we can see MacGyver’s respect for life and his strong belief in justice. While riding on a train, it gets hijacked by Hassan and his band. They have come from their local village in search of the foreigners who sold them bad medicine and took a lot of their money. What the villagers thought was a cure was actually a poison that killed 26 people, including Hassan’s son. Hassan is holding all the passengers on the train hostage and is ready to kill them all in compensation for the lives lost in his village. MacGyver of course, being a peacemaker- whom Jesus calls blessed (Matthew 5:9)- seeks to pacify Hassan and find a peaceful solution. Hassan eventually agrees to a lie detector test that MacGyver rigs up so that he can find the guilty party. However, MacGyver still wants to see the guilty party go on trial before a judge and receive his sentence from there, rather than have Hassan take the law into his own hands. But when the guilty party is found, they run and wind up getting tangled in MacGyver’s jury-rig of the train’s controls, which ultimately kills them. (Though MacGyver specifically warned them not to mess with it.) Hassan nods approvingly saying, “Justice, MacGyver.” MacGyver points out that this is not justice, but more killing. As MacGyver says in the episode about Hassan, “He’s got a right, but he’s wrong.”
For Christians, we do not live under the law, but under the grace of Jesus Christ. This does not mean that the Law is done away because Jesus told us He came to fulfill the law, not do away with it. (Matthew 5:17) As Paul writes in Romans 12:18, we need to learn to live at peace with everyone and let God take care of meting out judgment and let go of seeking our own retribution.
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21)
Rest assured that God will punish the guilty and reward the righteous in His due time. We can see this principle in 1 Samuel 24 and 26, where David (later to be King of Israel) spares the current King Saul’s life twice. Keep in mind that David is on the run and is being hunted down by Saul to be killed at this point. Two different times he had a perfect opportunity to kill Saul in his sleep and twice he passed it up. As David explains in 1 Samuel 26:9-11, “But David said to Abishai, ‘Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives,’ he said, ‘the Lord Himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.’” David later returned the spear and water jug to Saul the next morning when he showed him that he meant him no harm as he had an opportunity to kill Saul but refused to take it.
We can see MacGyver following this example in the episode “To Be a Man”. (It's also ironic that in this episode MacGyver makes like David in using a sling and stone to take down an enemy, just as David used a sling and stone to take down Goliath, with God's help of course.) In this situation, MacGyver’s in Afghanistan to recover a fallen satellite. He’s shot in the process and is helped by a woman, Zia, and her son, Ahmed. Soviet soldiers try to stop them, but of course, MacGyver finds a way to escape. Ahmed is ready to kill one of the soldiers, but MacGyver stops him. The boy is confused and asks MacGyver why he let his enemy live and didn’t kill him. MacGyver answers, “Because I didn’t have to.” And later we see how this helps them out, when the grateful soldier allows MacGyver and the family to cross the border to Pakistan at the end of the episode.
We can see other examples of this throughout MacGyver, particularly in episodes like “Unfinished Business”, “Humanity” and “The Stringer”. Not only does MacGyver not believe in guns, he doesn’t believe in killing. As he tells his son Sam in “The Stringer”, “The killing has to stop with us.” Even when we feel totally justified in looking for vengeance, as Sam wanted to go after the guy that shot and killed his mother in cold blood because he wanted to see him pay for what he did in "The Stringer". Even when MacGyver was about ready to bash in the head of a racist who killed a good friend, Booker Wilson, in "The Challenge". Both of them restrained and in effect, left vengeance to the law and ultimately to God.
Look at what Jesus said about seeking revenge. He had some pretty radical stuff to say in The Sermon on the Mount. First off, he reminded us about what The Bible says about taking "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." (Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21) But then check out this deal. "But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:39-48)
Oh man! That's one of the things I love about Jesus! (Besides the fact that He first loved me and gave Himself for me!) Jesus is so totally opposite to everything the world tells you. In God's kingdom, losers win and the ones who finish last are first place in His Book! It's so different and so wonderful! Don't just love your neighbor- love your enemies too! And pray for them! It's totally crazy and contrary to the world's eyes but it's exactly what Jesus calls us to do. And it's what MacGyver models so well, especially in his burgeoning friendship with Victor in "Humanity". As MacGyver said in "The Stringer", "Murder is not justice." "The killing has to stop with us." The buck stops here, as President Harry Truman said. We have to be the ones to stop the hating and let the anger go. The lust for revenge does nothing but to make us crazy with loathing and only leads us to commit more sinful acts, leading all the way up to physical murder. That's why we have to let it go to a God who's bigger than us and our problems and who will always do the right thing.
And we have to always be willing to forgive others and truly forget. One of the most powerful scenes in Spider-Man 3 for me was when Spider-Man simply told Sandman, "I forgive you." For it is in this moment that Peter not only forgives his uncle's killer, but is able to forgive himself for failing his uncle. MacGyver is about to be killed in "Humanity", but he's still able to take compassion on his would-be killer and save him from a snake bite, which in turn leads to a friendship. Remember what Jesus told Peter about forgiving his brother. Don't just forgive him 7 times, forgive him seventy times seven! In other words, always be willing to forgive! (Matthew 18:21-22) And remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Check out the parable about the unmerciful servant that Jesus told in Matthew 18:23-35. When a king forgave a servant of a huge debt he couldn't possibly pay back because he felt sorry for him, the servant went out and demanded a much smaller sum be paid back to him from some other guy that owed him money. He refused to show him any mercy and had the man and his family thrown in jail until they could pay. The king got seriously ticked off when he heard about this and told the unmerciful servant that he should have been merciful to his fellow man as he had been to him. But after this, the king threw the servant into jail with his whole family until he paid back every last cent! (Which when you look at the money that he had to pay back and consider the wages of people in those times, this dude could've worked his whole life and never earned it back!) Jesus said that's how His Heavenly Father will treat us unless we forgive each other from the heart.
"And you can't see past the blood on my hands to see that you've been aptly damned to fail and fail again- 'cause we're all guilty of the same thing; we think the thoughts whether or not we see them through- and I know that I have been forgiven and I just hope you can forgive me too."- "Forgiven" by Relient K
MacGyver models forgiveness and rejecting vengeance. And Jesus has told that we must love everyone and be willing to forgive always. Hasn't God forgiven us of much more? "But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Jesus died to pay for all of our wrongdoings and He rose again from the dead! If He can forgive us of all that (and believe me, it's A LOT just from my own failings)- then we must forgive one another. "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32)

That wraps it up for this one. If you want to send me any comments about it, use the Feedback page.