Dr. Jacob “Jack” Kevorkian passed away on June 3, 2011 at the age of 83. Dr. Kevorkian became infamous in the 1990’s because he helped over 130 people die via physician-assisted suicide. Dr. Kevorkian continuously said “Dying is not a crime.” In each of these suicides, it was the patient who committed the final action.
Believe it or not, Dr. Kevorkian was actually known as “Dr. Death” long before he helped people commit suicide. Colleagues throughout California and Michigan had always observed Kevorkian was particularly interested in dying patients. Dr. Kevorkian was a graduate of the University of Michigan. This is probably why he had a desire to settle down in Michigan and ultimately end up with a career writing articles about euthanasia, which were published throughout the world.
Dr. Kevorkian did not truly become famous until the 1990s when he invented a device known as the “death machine.” This medical tool gave consenting patients the opportunity to self-inject an anesthetic followed by a lethal dose of potassium chloride. Jack Kevorkian labeled this machine as the “Thanatron,” since it was named after Thanatos – the figure of death in Greek mythology.
Dr. Kevorkian and his volunteer attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, became well known all over the world because they continuously stood up to government laws, particularly in Michigan. The state of Michigan passed a law in 1993 preventing him from practicing physician-assisted suicides. Geoffrey Fieger constantly attacked Governor John Engler while supporting Dr. Kevorkian.
Eventually, Dr. Kevorkian lost his licenses to practice medicine in California and Michigan. Nevertheless, Dr. Kevorkian continued to help people “End their lives with dignity.” Dr. Kevorkian continuously pointed out that people should not be forced to suffer and live with pain, since they were inevitably going to die anyways.
Consequently, Dr. Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder in April of 1999. After serving eight years of a 10-to-25 year prison sentence, Dr. Kevorkian was released on parole after promising he would not aid in any further suicides. From that point on, Dr. Kevorkian devoted his life to oil paintings and jazz music. Occasionally, Dr. Kevorkian would market his work to the public.
I want to make it clear to everyone reading this that I am a Christian and I believe in God. I have a close relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. However, I was very disappointed the way several large so-called Christian organizations were cheering and gloating like hypocrites when Jack Kevorkian died this week. One woman said, “I know Dr. Kevorkian now realizes there is a God, and I can guarantee you he will not be spending eternity with Him in Heaven.”
I just have one controversial question: How can that woman “Guarantee” anything? She is not God, and she is not in a position to judge Jack Kevorkian. If you examine the life of Jack Kevorkian, you will be surprised what a loving and caring man he was. And when you learn what I’m about to tell you, I believe you may change your mind about whether or not you will see Jack Kevorkian when you get to Heaven!
Jack Kevorkian came from a very religious family and was raised to be a Christian by his loving parents. It was at the age of 12 when young Jack started asking questions in Sunday school class. Jack asked the question, “If there is an all-knowing and all-powerful God capable of giving His son the ability to walk on water, He would also have been able to prevent the Turkish slaughter of his entire extended family.”
Jack asked valid questions like this every week at church. But at the young age of 12 he decided to stop attending church because his questions were not receiving acceptable answers, based on his point of view. I believe the fundamental problem is the way Jack Kevorkian only looked at things from his personal point of view. For example, Jack apparently thought to himself, “If I had the ability to walk on water or heal the sick, I would use those abilities to provide health to everyone and prevent millions of innocent people from being slaughtered by a tyrant like Adolf Hitler.”
This form of logic seems reasonable to most people, but once you read your Bible you realize that is not the way God works. Jesus Christ is a merciful God who wants to spend eternity with you. This is the reason why He personally allowed Himself to be tortured on a cross. When the supporters of Jesus Christ saw Him on that cross, they asked questions similar to Jack Kevorkian. They probably asked themselves things like “If this guy really is the same guy who previously walked on water and healed other people, why doesn’t he just heal himself and hop off that cross; then, everyone would believe!”
But the evidence suggests Jack Kevorkian didn’t read his Bible enough to learn it is a relatively violent book – describing various forms of judgment, fights, murders, and torture. If Jack did read his Bible from beginning to end, it’s disappointing that he didn’t become friends with the Lord along the way. You would tend to think that a man capable of understanding the concept that “Death is not a crime” would also be capable of understanding the concept that “Good days would not exist if it wasn’t for bad days.” In life, we often learn from bad experiences just as much as we learn from good experiences.
But this still doesn’t necessarily mean Jack Kevorkian won’t be in Heaven. We don’t know what happened during the last days of Jack Kevorkian’s life. During his last days, Jack Kevorkian probably thought a lot about his life, his family, and his loved ones. We know he was raised as a Christian, and we know God was always on his mind. How do we know that Jack Kevorkian didn’t ask forgiveness of his sins and accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, just as many of his painfully sick patients did?
There’s no question Dr. Kevorkian will be judged for his actions in life. But there’s also no doubt he would spend eternity with the Lord if he felt comfortable being with Him. How do you “Feel comfortable being with the Lord” you ask? Simple; cause the Lord to see you as He sees Himself. The way you do that is by covering yourself in the blood of Jesus Christ. You do that by asking forgiveness of your sins and accepted the work of Jesus on the cross. This is the whole reason why Jesus allow Himself to be tortured that way; He paid the price for everyone’s sins, even though His life perfectly agreed with the will of God.
I want to end this article by telling the enemies of Dr. Kevorkian that they should not be proud or happy that Jack Kevorkian may be in hell right now. Jesus Christ loved Jack Kevorkian enough to die for him. Keep that in mind before you run your mouth. And also keep in mind that the Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t like hypocrites!
Please feel free to share your thoughts on this. Do you believe suicide will be leglaized one day? How about the way hospitals take people off of life support all the time?