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The Christian bishop stabbed multiple times in Western Sydney is defending X, and forgiving his young Muslim attacker.

Mar Mari Emmanuel used his first sermon since leaving hospital to double down on Christian forgiveness.

During the two-minute excerpt, the Assyrian Church bishop – loved for his anti-Marxist/woke stance online – said,

“To this young man, I say, you are my son, and you will always be my son.

“I will always pray for you. I’ll always wish you nothing but the best… in the name of Jesus, I forgive you.”

Clearly wounded, and recovering, the bishop added,

“I pray that my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ of Nazareth to enlighten your heart, enlighten your soul – your entire being – to realise my dear, there is only one God, who art in Heaven.

“I say with absolute love, confidence and humility, that God is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, but you are my dear son.

“The Lord knows it is coming from the bottom of my heart.”

Mar Mari was reiterating remarks on Christian forgiveness made in a 12 April conversation from hospital with 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

Forgiveness was also the hidden centrepiece of the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd’s press release on April 16.

There, Mar Mari’s secretary, Fr. Daniel Kochou, denounced escalation, stating,

“Christ has in fact called His subjects to become the ‘light of the world’, meaning those who bear His mark, must fervently uphold this role.”

Imago Dei

Demonstrating consistency, the Bishop gave a nod to the doctrine of forgiveness in his formal ANZAC Day message.

Appearing to address the young Muslim, and other young Muslims who allegedly aided in the attack, Mar Mari asserted:

“As a Christian, if another human being does not believe in what I believe in – if another human being attacks my faith, and attacks my Lord – that does not give me the right to go and cause harm to that person.”

“This is inhumane,” he said.

“Christianity gets attacked all the time, but that does not give me the right just because someone has a different point of view, and a different belief system.”

Mar Mari then added,

“My prayer goes to the person who has done this act. I will always love this person.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. He’s my son, and he will always be my son.

“He’ll always be in my heart, and in my prayers, and my thoughts.

“Whoever was behind this, I forgive them all in the name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Against Censorship

Posted online, Mar Mari Emmanuel used the opportunity to criticise Canberra for censoring the attempted assassination.

The Bishop stated that while he did not condone terrorism or violence, censoring the video violated core God-given liberties such as freedom of speech.

“I’m not opposed to the videos remaining on social media,” he said.

“It would be of great concern if people use the attack on me to serve their own political interests to control free speech.

“As human beings, we need to respect and love everyone.

“At the same time, we need to protect our God-given identity.”

We need, Mar Mari said, to protect freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

We need to keep them free from “violence, terrorism, or persecution for just expressing their belief.”

The moment we oppress these freedoms, we lose human identity and dignity.

Linking liberty with the ANZAC legend, Mar Mari asserted,

“I salute those ANZAC warriors” who gave their lives to defend human dignity, which is established by freedom of speech and religion.

“I love this country, I’m a very proud Aussie.”

“I don’t,” Mar Mari continued, “want what has happened to me, to be used as a means to abolish freedom of speech or religion.”

He then prayed for Australia, concluding,

“We need to forgive one another, pray for one another. We may disagree with one another, but that does not make us enemies.”

Mar Mari isn’t just forgiving his would-be assassin; Mar Mari has abandoned retribution for reconciliation.

As theologian Thomas Torrance once wrote,

“Had God simply let man go, disowned man altogether, we would have ceased to exist.”

God, Torrance wrote, “insisted on holding onto us in spite of our sin.”

It’s only by God’s grace in Jesus Christ, says Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, that he can offer the same to his alleged attackers.

Jesus the Christ “stood under judgement for us.”

Freely we have received, freely we should give. (Matthew 10:8)