A prominent journalist who covered major stories including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the rise of Osama Bin Laden for various Saudi news organisations, Jamal was close to the Saudi royal family for decades and also served as an adviser to the government. But he fell out of favour and went into self-imposed exile in the US last year. From there, he wrote a monthly column in the Washington Post in which he criticised the policies of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Now he is dead.
Last night in our Alpha@Vazon course we viewed the video 'Why did Jesus Die?'. It was powerful and moving, and there were quite a few tears among our 50 or so guests. Of course, the death of Jesus 2,000 years is of immense significance to Christians everywhere and I would not want to offend by trying to draw any kind of equivalence. But there are one or two similarities that are impressing me today. One is that you can't kill truth. The exposure of the Saudi regime by this journalist is greater today than before he died. The impact of the death of Jesus (who once described himself as "I am the truth") was also magnified globally by his death, and then his resurrection of course. The other is that there are forces of evil in the world that resist criticism and change, and that both men paid a high price for doing just those things. Jesus criticised the religious leaders of his day and urged repentance and change.
The great difference, of course, is that Jesus rose from the dead. The Turkish authorities are having a hard time finding the body of Jamal Khashoggi, but we know it is out there somewhere. The Jewish leaders and Roman authorities in Jesus' day only had to produce his body and all the theories of resurrection would be ended. But they could not - because he is risen indeed!
