THE death of Henry Nowak has shocked many. The images of a dying teenager being handcuffed while repeatedly insisting that he had been stabbed have raised profound questions about judgment, institutional culture, accountability, and justice. The fact that the killer’s accusations of racism appeared initially to shape the police response has only intensified those concerns. Whether future investigations ultimately identify individual failures, systemic failures, or a combination of both, Christians are right to ask how followers of Christ should respond when institutions entrusted with justice appear to have failed.
Some Christians instinctively avoid confrontation, assuming that love requires silence. Others are tempted toward bitterness, outrage or vengeance. Neither response reflects the example of Christ. To understand the proper Christian response, we must look to one of the most misunderstood episodes in the life of Jesus: His cleansing of the Temple.
The anger of Jesus
The Gospels record that Jesus entered the temple courts and found them filled with money changers and traders. What followed was extraordinary: ‘He drove out all who bought and sold in the temple.’ (Matthew 21:12) John’s Gospel adds that Jesus fashioned a whip of cords and overturned the tables of the money-changers. (John 2:15)
Modern readers often struggle with this passage because it appears inconsistent with the gentle and compassionate Christ they know. Yet the episode reveals an essential truth: there are circumstances in which righteous anger is not sinful. In fact, it is necessary. The Greek word often associated with anger is ὀργή; orgē. Yet the New Testament distinguishes between sinful anger and righteous indignation.
Paul writes: ‘Be angry and do not sin.’ (Ephesians 4:26) The command itself is remarkable. Paul does not say that all anger is wrong. He says that anger must remain under God’s rule. Jesus demonstrates precisely this kind of holy indignation. His anger was not rooted in personal offence but in the corruption of justice and the abuse of sacred trust. The Temple authorities had transformed a place intended for worship into a mechanism for exploitation. Power had ceased serving truth. Power had begun serving itself.
The biblical demand for impartial justice
One of the central themes of Scripture is impartial judgment. The Hebrew word מִשְׁפָּט; mishpat, means justice, judgment, or righteous legal order. The prophets repeatedly declare that God loves mishpat. Isaiah writes: ‘Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.’ (Isaiah 1:17) Biblical justice is not merely punishment. It is the fair and truthful application of judgment regardless of status, ethnicity, wealth, or influence. This principle appears throughout Torah: ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment.’(Leviticus 19:15) The verse continues with a remarkable balance: ‘You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great.’Justice must not favour the powerful, neither may it favour the weak. Truth must govern judgment. The Hebrew concept here is profoundly relevant. God condemns both oppression and partiality. The standard is truth.
False witness and the Ninth Commandment
Another theme raised by the Nowak case concerns accusations. Scripture repeatedly warns against accepting accusations without proper examination. The Ninth Commandment states: ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.’ The Hebrew word עֵד; ed means witness. Ancient Israel understood that entire systems of justice could be corrupted if accusations were treated as proof. This is why Deuteronomy requires careful investigation. ‘Then both parties to the dispute shall appear before YHWH … and the judges shall inquire diligently.’ (Deuteronomy 19:17-18) Notice the phrase, inquire diligently. Truth requires investigation. An accusation is the beginning of inquiry. It is not the conclusion. If it is ultimately established that officers accepted an accusation without sufficiently testing it against the available evidence, the failure would not simply be procedural. It would be a failure of biblical justice.
Fear of man and fear of God
One of the recurring dangers in Scripture is the temptation to fear public opinion more than truth. Proverbs warns: ‘The fear of man brings a snare.’(Proverbs 29:25) The Hebrew word מוֹקֵשׁ; moqesh means a trap or a snare. Throughout history institutions have often been tempted to protect themselves from criticism by embracing ideological fashions, public pressures, or prevailing narratives. This temptation affects every political persuasion. The Christian concern is not whether an institution is accused of being racist, anti-racist, left-wing, right-wing, progressive or conservative. The Christian concern is whether it is truthful. A society governed by fear cannot administer justice. A society governed by truth can.
The Temple and institutional corruption
The Temple cleansing is especially instructive because Jesus was confronting an institution. The money-changers were not merely individuals behaving badly. They were operating within an accepted system. The corruption had become normal. This is why Jesus quoted Isaiah: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’,but then added: ‘You have made it a den of thieves.’ The Greek word is σπήλαιον λῃστῶν; spēlaion lēstōn and literally means a cave of robbers. It is also a quotation of Jeremiah 7:23. Jesus was attacking a system that obscured its corruption beneath claims of legitimacy. Christians should therefore reject the false choice often presented in modern debates. One can respect the police while demanding accountability. One can support law enforcement while insisting upon reform. One can honour institutions while condemning injustice within them. We can do it because Jesus did precisely this. His cleansing of the Temple was not an attack on God’s institution. It was a defence of it.
What should Christians do?
The reaction of Christ provides a model.
First, Christians must seek truth rather than ideology. Jesus never allowed Himself to become a servant of political factions. Truth governed His actions.
Second, Christians must defend justice impartially. If Henry Nowak was denied fair treatment because of assumptions rooted in race, ideology, or institutional pressures, Christians should say so. If investigations reveal other causes, Christians should accept those findings as well. Truth must remain primary.
Third, Christians must reject hatred. The prophets condemned injustice without embracing vengeance. The family of Henry Nowak themselves have been crystal clear: the case is not about Sikhism or racism, it is a case about murder. Henry’s father articulated that while justice in the eyes of the law has been served, justice alone is not enough. They want Henry’s death to be used to make change for the better, not to increase further division, hatred or tension, but to make our streets safer for everyone, that no one should be able to walk openly through the streets of Britain carrying a 21cm blade. Indeed, for me the stand-out moment in the statement of Henry’s father was ‘Today Henry has been believed’, a moment that added tangible momentum to the call on the Home Secretary to ensure the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has the resources to conduct a ‘full, fearless and transparent investigation’ into the initial police response. The Nowak family’s response reflects a profoundly Christian instinct.
Fourth, Christians should demand accountability. Accountability is not revenge. It is a biblical requirement. Kings, priests, judges and rulers were all held accountable by God’s standards. No institution is exempt.
Zeal for your house
John’s Gospel records that after Jesus cleansed the Temple, the disciples remembered a verse from Psalm 69:‘Zeal for your house has consumed me.’The Hebrew word behind zeal is קִנְאָה; qin’ah. It can mean zeal, jealousy, passionate concern, or burning commitment. Biblical zeal is not uncontrolled rage. It is love refusing to remain silent in the face of corruption.
If Christians feel disturbed by the treatment of Henry Nowak, that concern need not be suppressed. The proper question is not whether believers should care. The proper question is whether that concern is governed by truth, justice, and love. Christ’s example teaches that there are moments when silence becomes complicity. There are moments when institutions require reform. There are moments when those entrusted with justice must themselves be called to account. Yet the Christian path is neither hatred nor passivity. It is the path of Christ Himself: speaking truth, defending justice, rejecting partiality, loving our neighbour and refusing to allow power to stand above righteousness.
The God revealed in Scripture remains the God who declares: ‘Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.’ (Amos 5:24)
