The Lord of the Kingdom

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Bag End, Hobbiton. April 13, Shire Year, 1418. - Gandalf’s news grows darker: the unwilling service of Gollum, Bilbo’s nemesis, has resulted in danger for the free people of the West. Hobbits, Frodo now knows, have of late come to the attention of Sauron the Great; worse, the Shire is likely known to the Lord of the Rings, but worst of all is the fact that the name of Baggins is now of interest in the land of Mordor.

‘But this is terrible!’ cried Frodo. ‘Far worse than the worst that I imagined from your hints and warnings . . . For now I am really afraid. What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance.’

“‘Pity? 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 he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity . . .

‘I can’t understand you. Do you mean to say that you, and the Elves, have let him live on after all those horrible deeds? Now at any rate he is as bad as an Orc, and just an enemy. He deserves death.’

‘Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many - yours not least.’” - LOTR, p. 59

It is a difficult and contrary attribute, this God-like and God-given capacity for mercy. There is within us a competing disposition and desire, no less a part of the image of God, that yearns for justice and judgment. Such are the logical and natural outcomes of sin: consequences of some sort needs follow, appropriate to the offense, but warranted still.

Who has not wanted to seek justice when wronged? Whether it be the loss suffered through the trivial theft of property or the more serious violation of our being or the final destruction of our bodies, the scales of justice in our souls await balancing. Crime and consequence; offense and restitution; sin and judgment. Are these not desirable to and attainable for us?

Yet the message of the Testaments is clear. “A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; the LORD is avenging and wrathful,” declares Nahum (1.1). “The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies.” It is not for us, say the authors of the Old Testament, to implement judgment and revenge when we have suffered some loss or indignity. Governments have the responsibility to maintain a semblance of justice but we, as individual Christians, are told by the Lord Jesus to turn the other cheek and to go the extra mile, regardless of our rights under law.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, supports the principle of restraint while adding the positive quality of mercy. “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy,” he states. “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (2.13). It may be against our nature - our sinful nature - to extend mercy to those who deserve judgment but it is to mercy that we are called.

It means we must overlook insults, forgive thoughtless actions, accept sufferings though being innocent, let go of our inclinations and cravings for personal justice. Positively, it requires us to exhibit “kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them” (Thayer’s G-ELNT). It corresponds to the OT word hesed, and,

hesed means proper covenant behaviour, the solidarity which the partners in the covenant owe one another. The covenant may be between equals, or it may be made by one who is stronger than his partner in it. In either case it may result in one giving help to the other in his need. So the connotations of eleos meaning hesed may stretch from loyalty to a covenant to kindliness, mercy, pity.”

There is more to mercy than adopting or achieving a particular attitude: biblical mercy means action on the behalf of the other person. We have been recipients of Christ’s mercy, who, being without sin, died for us so that we might be spared the judgment of God upon our sin. We deserved death; our own death would have paid the penalty for our own sins but left us with no righteousness or merit to save us. Our own death is but a punishment, not a sacrifice.

Having received such mercy, how can we withhold it from others who are ultimately no different than us? They need that which they do not deserve, even as we have been granted that which we have not deserved. They need mercy, for God only knows what the end of the matter will be. Our part is to obey His command to love and to leave the outcome entirely up to him.

To extend mercy is superior to exercising judgment.

The words of Portia in The Merchant of Venice will provide us with a concluding thought:

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above this sceptered sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God’s
When mercy seasons justice.” - William Shakespeare

Bag End, Hobbiton. April 13, Shire Year, 1418. - Gandalf continues Frodo’s education concerning the One Ring, Gollum, and various other interconnected people, places, and events. The young hobbit is quite repulsed by Gandalf’s suggestion that Gollum might be a distant relative or ancestor of modern hobbits, although he reluctantly admits of some possibility.

‘Yes,’ said Frodo. ‘Though other folks besides hobbits ask riddles, and of much the same sort. And hobbits don’t cheat. Gollum meant to cheat all the time. He was just trying to put poor Bilbo off his guard. And I daresay it amused his wickedness to start a game which might end in providing him with an easy victim, but if he lost would not hurt him.’

“‘Only too true, I fear,’ said Gandalf. ‘But there was something else in it, I think, which you don’t see yet. Even Gollum was not wholly ruined . . . There was a little corner of his mind that was still his own, and light came through it, as through a chink in the dark: light out of the past . . .

“‘But that, of course, would only make the evil part of him angrier in the end - unless it could be conquered. Unless it could be cured.’ Gandalf sighed. “Alas! there is little hope of that for him. Yet not no hope . . . ‘”
- LOTR, p. 55

Before discussing the good news of Gollum’s condition, I will turn briefly to a theological term that needs clarification. It is important always to keep in mind the critical distinction between depravity and ruin. While the latter encompasses the former, the former is not equivalent to the latter.

Depravity, understood biblically, means that mankind, individually and corporately, is unable to do anything to gain favor with God or to achieve righteousness independently. (If you would like more information, go to this page: Theologians on Depravity.)

This is seen to be the case with Gollum, who is not totally evil in the same fashion as Morgoth or Sauron, but who is unable to do anything to save himself from his desperate situation. He is depraved but not completely ruined or beyond hope. Like Saruman (who is also given an opportunity to repent and “save himself,” i.e., be saved), Gollum needs for someone or Someone to save him from himself. Gandalf extends such an offer to Saruman and Frodo will later repeatedly offer opportunities for Gollum to change his mind.

Though ultimately unsuccessful with either Gollum or Saruman, it is nevertheless tremendously good news to know that Gollum - who stands in the place of fallen mankind at this point - is not “wholly ruined”: there may be “little hope” for him but “not no hope.”

The hope Gandalf had for Gollum is a real and living hope for every individual: salvation is availabe to all who repent and call upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Regardless of how deep or damaging past sins may have been, no one is ever rendered without hope in this lifetime. The saving arm of a gracious God is just a whispered prayer away, for “whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom 10:13; cf Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21).