Savonarola and Fairness
“That’s not fair!” How many times have we said this before? Surely, quite a few. So many events in life do not turn out the way we think they should. In Ecclesiastes 9:13-15, Solomon shares a story about a man who was not treated fairly, “This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.”
This story is upsetting because the wise man wasn’t given the respect he deserved. He disarmed a mighty king using not a weapon of war, but wisdom. Unfortunately, the people of the city did not remember the man who saved their lives. They chose not to learn from him or put him in a position to bring about additional positive change. If such a deliverance occurred today, the man would become a fixture of his community. He would be given the key to the city. Rather, the city left him to be forgotten in the annals of history, which, I think you would agree, is not very fair. Interestingly, this scenario played out in history several centuries ago.
Girolamo Savonarola was a Dominican friar from the 1400s. He was the most published author of the century, and is sometimes cited by Protestants as an important pre-Reformation thinker. He, for example, rebelled against the Pope and boldly claimed that he was not a Christian. In the following century, Martin Luther said that Savonarola definitely believed in justification by faith. Savonarola was once quoted as saying, “No one can glory in himself; all the saints say, not of us but of The Lord is glory. They were not saved by their merit, nor by their work, but by the goodness and grace of God, that nobody may glory in himself.” Eventually, he was martyred by the Roman Catholic church.
Savonarola lived in Florence, governed by the Medici family. Leadership had just changed hands to the young and naive Piero. At the time, King Charles VIII was having a squabble with the Pope about the territory of Naples. Charles decided to march his seemingly invincible army to Naples and try to capture it. Charles left a path of destruction behind him as he headed toward Naples, wrecking everything in his path. Unfortunately for Florence, it was situated along this path. A flood of terrified refugees poured into Florence ahead of the attacks, crying, “We are ruined!”
Piero the Unfortunate, as he is now referred to, tried to strike up a bargain with Charles’ representatives and succeeded. However, the deal was so awful that the city ran him out of town. Without his demands being met, Charles continued to march to Florence. Without any other hope, the town decided to have their spiritual guide try to talk some sense into the King, and by God’s providence, it worked. Savonarola started by thanking the king for ridding the town of the House of Medici, calling him “an instrument sent by the Lord.” He then told him, among other things, that “God elected you in the interest of the church. You must obey the Lord.” Though it seemed like a miracle, Charles relented, and his army did not destroy Florence.
The people then turned to Savonarola to establish a democracy. However, this was short-lived. Due to circumstances beyond the government’s control, economic hardship fell upon Florence. The friar was blamed, the city turned on him, and he was removed from the pulpit and eventually martyred by the Roman Catholic Church. The savior of Florence was betrayed.
Where does this leave us? All of us can expect unfair outcomes in our lives. In reality, we shouldn’t want things to be fair. If they were, God would instantly condemn us to Hell, as that is what we truly deserve. Just as Florence’s savior was treated harshly, so was the savior of the world. Christ came to earth and was treated unfairly. He suffered for us, so we don’t have to face God’s wrath.
We must consider unfair situations with an eternal perspective. No matter how bad your life becomes, no matter what setbacks and difficulties you face, our ultimate goal is not an enjoyable outcome in this life. All of us will succumb to the grave one day. Our focus must be to endure until the next life. This life ends, but the next one carries on forever. After we have been in heaven for trillions of years, enjoying the peace of God for uncountable days, do you think we will feel the same outrage toward these unfair situations that we once did? Certainly not. Therefore, do not look for fairness in this life, but set your hope on our inheritance to come, which is eternal life in heaven with Christ.
