Only the gospel ofJesus Christ breaks the cycle of human vengeance and violence. God for-
gives us first, not waiting for us to ask, and then makes loving appeal to
win our hearts and make friends out of enemies.
J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy,The Lord of the Rings, helps us to understand
Jesus’ difficult teaching. “The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many†is
the only line appearing in all three books and is, as Ralph Wood notes, the
“moral and religious center†of Tolkien’s story.
Bilbo Baggins, you re call,is the hobbit who vouchsafed the evil Ring after saving it from the de-
formed and wicked Gollum. Bilbo’s nephew, Frodo, remarks to the wise
wizard Gandalf, “What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature
when he had a chance!†“Pity? [Gandalf replies] It was Pity that stayed his
hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well
rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that [Bilbo] took so little hurt from the evil, and
escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With
Pity.†Gandalf understands that Gollum deserves death and that he will
likely not be cured of his evil before he dies. Yet he says, “even the very
wise cannot see all ends.â€
Likewise we must, as the Apostle Paul warns,
“leave room for the wrath of the God†who alone is able to see all ends
(Romans 12:19). We must not judge others ourselves.
Bilbo’s pity becomes a counter-cultural value that pervades the epic.
When at last the evil wizard Saruman is captured, the hobbits clamor for
his execution. Yet Frodo, having learned the power of the pity of Bilbo
from Gandalf, offers pardon to Saruman." It is useless to meet revenge
with revenge,†says Frodo; “it will heal nothing.†Pity and pardon are not
what Saruman wants, however.
We cannot be certain that our pity will bring about the transformation
of our enemies, but we know that it brings about ours and makes possible
theirs. If we do as Jesus commands, if we make peace with our enemies
by loving them, we can know at least that we are children of our heavenly
Father. We may not be perfect—which means to be fully mature and com-
pletely true to our created nature—but we will be more like our perfect
Father
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