The Death Penalty—WWJD?

I found this story interesting:


Death sentence by jury that discussed Bible thrown out


This week a judge threw out a death sentence issued by a jury in 1995 because five of the jurors had consulted the Bible during deliberations. Because these jurors used Scripture, rather than civil law, as a basis for their sentencing decision, the judge nullified the death sentence and replaced it with life in prison witout parole.


As I am not a lawyer, I cannot speak to the judge's decision. However, I am bothered that these five jurors back in 1995 decided that the Bible justified the death penalty as a moral form of punishment. While "eye-for-an-eye" ethics permeate the Torah, a thoughtful biblical analysis of capital punishment should have revealed the following:

Cain, the Bible's first murderer, was not put to death by God. Rather, God "put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him." (See Genesis 4.)

Some of the Bible's most important and beloved heroes -- including Moses, David, and Paul -- were guilty of murder or were guilty as accomplices. They suffered for their misdeeds, but were ultimately redeemed.

Redemption and repentence are key themes throughout the biblical texts. When someone is executed by the state, the state cuts short the processes of redemption and repentence.

Jesus himself refuted the "eye-for-an-eye" laws in Matthew 5:38-42.

Jesus was wrongly sentenced to death. Whenever we execute someone, we always run the risk of killing a person who was wrongly convicted.