Justice

 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live."

Acts 28:4 ESV

To be human is to have a sense of justice. A child might rage against their sibling stealing a cookie from the jar. If they were the guilty party however, they would probably plead for mercy. We tend to want justice for others and forgiveness for ourselves.

Nowadays, the Maltese natives might describe a snake bite as karma: the idea that we get what we deserve/you reap what you sow/what goes around comes around (although a Hindu once told me my definition was wrong and I never found out a more correct one). There is of course some truth to that idea, although the book of Job makes clear that it's a general principle rather than a universal truth in this life.

Thankfully, the Maltese karma theory was disproved by God, by not letting Paul get poisoned by the snake that bit him. Jesus wants us to make Him known, and not even a venomous snake can stop that if He hasn't finished working through us on earth. Until God calls us home, we are invincible!

A lot of the work of sharing the gospel is clearing up misunderstandings. Just because something bad happens to someone doesn't mean to say that they are bad. Jesus is the only perfectly good person, and He died the worst of deaths as though He was a bad person.

'Heavenly Father, we're so grateful that we don't have to receive the justice we deserve. We thank You that in Jesus You are both just and the justifier of the ungodly. For Your glory, amen'