11 Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and his father’s whole family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king. 12 Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” “Yes, my lord,” he answered.
13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?”
14 Ahimelech answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household? 15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.”
16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and your father’s whole family.”
17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.”
But the king’s officials were not willing to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. 19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.

I live in North Carolina about 45 minutes from where Eve Carson, Student Body President of UNC, was murdered on March 6th. A random, senseless, tragic death. The men who killed her will now stand trial for first-degree murder.

On Tuesday of this week, a memorial service was held in Eve’s honor. That morning, as I was working through my daily devotion by Beth Moore on King David, I read the part in David’s story where King Saul murdered Ahimelech and his entire family because Ahimelech had helped David after he fled from Saul. Tragic…senseless, just like the death of Eve Carson.

We live in an evil, fallen world. We have since the first sin in the Garden of Eden and will continue to do so until Jesus returns.

The men who murdered Eve Carson will stand trial in our local court system, and hopefully, justice will be served. Like Saul, who died by his own hand when the Philistines closed in on he and his sons, they will suffer for what they have done. We do not know if Saul asked for God’s forgiveness before his death. We are later told that his head was cut off and his body put on display. (See 1 Samuel 31).

These acts were heinous. They inspire feelings of anger and sadness and a desire to see these men punished. And most likely Eve Carson’s killers will be. It seems safe to say that Saul certainly suffered for his treatment of David and the murders of Ahimelech and his family.

Still, for the men who murdered Eve Carson, redemption is still a possibility. It came in the person of Jesus. All they need do is ask for forgiveness and it will be given. “For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1

Tomorrow is Good Friday, the day we as Christians recognize as the torture and crucifixion of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As He hung on the cross, He saw Saul. He saw the men who murdered Eve. He saw me. He saw you.

And with a love we can barely even begin to fathom, He uttered the words, “It is finished,” and His Spirit went to be with His Heavenly Father, the same One who is a Father to you and to me.

I am humbled. I am overwhelmed. I am more grateful than mere words can express. If I had been the only one here in need of saving, He still would have come. And He would have come only for you.

And as we celebrate His defeat of death and evil on Easter Sunday in the form of His resurrection, won’t you join me in praying that those men find the hope that we have?