We know that humanity is corrupt. We made the choice at Eden to reject the light and cling to the darkness. Therefore, we may feel like dismissing Luke’s statement that there is “still good in” his father right off. Sounds humanistic. Sounds like “everyone is basically good”. Is that truly the story arc we see, however?
We discussed the story of Anakin’s fall and redemption in the posts about the prequel trilogy. Anakin was deceived by the dark side of the force, but he was not altogether innocent. He chose to give into his fears, and reject the counsel of his superiors in the Jedi Order. He turned from a kid who wanted to free slaves and protect the ones he loved to a power-hungry mass-murderer. This doesn’t seem like a character who is “basically good”.
Yet Luke Skywalker, with the compassionate eyes of a Jedi and a son, looked for the things that were still redeemable in him. In his search for the good that was still left, he was able to bring his father back to the light side of the force in Anakin’s last moments.
Though we are all flawed human beings, there is still something in each of us that is good. Something God imbued us with at creation that is waiting to be restored. He looked through the eyes of The Son, and saw those things- those people that He had designed, and reached out to bring us back into His light.
As children of this God, one of our jobs is to see the image of God in everyone. It is so easy to see people’s sins, and darkness, and failure. However, if we, like Luke Skywalker, choose to see others with compassion, we will witness the miracle of God’s redemption in their lives. We may even, by His grace, be allowed to take part in the story He is telling in the lives of other human beings.
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