Iran hanged 19 year old Saleh Mohammadi and every such killing tells the truth about the kind of kingdom men build without God.
Another body offered up to the appetite of a fearful regime. A nation reminded that the state can reach into a home, a courtroom, a prison cell, and take a son away.
This story exposes the world we still live in. Beneath the polished language of governments and the talking points of officials stands an old truth with blood on its hands. Earthly kingdoms are stained by sin and some let it drip in public.
Iran has shown it again in these brutal murders and executions, and every Christian who reads such news must decide what to do with the ache that follows.
One temptation is to look away, but Scripture teaches a better way. We are taught to grieve honestly, pray fervently, and lift our eyes higher than the men who carry rifles or tighten the rope.
The Lord does not ask us to pretend the evil is small. He teaches us to face it and then look beyond it to a throne no corruption can touch.
Isaiah preached in days like that, where kings rose and fell and armies gathered on the borders. Men trusted fear, and force more than the living God.
One ruler in Judah burned his own children in the fire. The prophet stood in that world and spoke the Word of God. He knew what it was to watch rulers gamble with lives. Yet in the middle of that trembling age, the Spirit of God lifted his eyes above the kingdoms of men and gave him a vision that still steadies the church.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder.” Then comes the line that keeps a believer from drowning in the news. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
That promise did not fall into a quiet world. Isaiah was not writing from a sheltered corner, far removed from history’s violence. He was standing in it. He had seen the weakness of kings, the madness of idols, the stupidity of political schemes, and the misery that follows when sinners hold the sword.
Every earthly government carries the smell of the fall. Pride climbs the stairs to power as fear sits on thrones. Often, the weak are crushed so the strong can keep their place another day.
The story out of Iran belongs to that same long sorrow.
A government kills to preserve itself. It sheds blood because fear has nested in its bones. A regime strong enough to terrify civilians can still be weak enough to fear a young man.
That is how rotten earthly power becomes. It reaches for public executions and grieving mothers because it has lost or never had the moral strength to govern with justice.
Yet Isaiah does not leave us there, staring at the wreckage.
He points us to Galilee, a bruised region, trampled by war, darkened by trouble, a place many would overlook. That is where the light first broke open. Matthew says Jesus began His public ministry there so that Isaiah’s prophecy would be fulfilled: “The people which sat in darkness saw great light” (Matthew 4:16).
Christ entered a world of violent rulers and frightened subjects and announced a kingdom unlike any the earth had ever seen. He preached, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).
This is our hope!
Christ alone rules without corruption. No stain clings to Christ’s government. There is no injustice bent toward self-protection, no innocent life spent as a public warning, no peace enforced through prison walls and fresh graves. His kingdom comes in truth, righteousness, mercy, and holy power. He is, as Isaiah said, “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Every name shines with authority.
The horror in Iran should do more than anger us. It should uncover the deeper hunger buried in the human heart.
We ache for a ruler who cannot be bribed, flattered, manipulated, threatened, or bought. We want a throne where truth does not bend. A king who sees every hidden cruelty and judges without error. Isaiah says that longing is answered in Jesus Christ.
Yet the gospel goes even deeper than our longing for righteous government.
The same sin that stains regimes also stains hearts. Tyranny grows large on thrones, but its roots run down into fallen human nature. We need more than a better society. Honestly, we need rescue.
The Child born and the Son given came for sinners. He lived without stain in a world blackened by lies. He stood before corrupt rulers. Falsely accused, He was condemned under a crooked system.
Then at the cross He bore the judgment guilty people deserve. He died in the place of sinners, rose from the grave, and now gives mercy, pardon, and everlasting life to all who repent and believe the gospel.
That means the answer to a bloodstained world is not found in outrage alone. It is found in a crucified and risen King.
His kingdom is already advancing, growing through the preaching of the gospel. It reaches places soldiers cannot control and courts cannot silence. Where it enters homes, prison cells, refugee camps, villages, cities, and hidden gatherings of believers who sing softly so the neighbors will not hear. It reaches Iran.
It reaches America. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.”
Executions cannot stop it. Threats cannot choke it. Christ is gathering His people from every tribe and tongue, and every sinner brought to repentance is another sign that His reign is spreading across the earth.
So pray. Pray for civilians in Iran who live under the shadow of fear. Pray for grieving families whose tears fall in silence. Pray for leaders, that God would restrain evil, humble the proud, and break the hands of violent men. Pray for soldiers and police, that consciences would awaken and cruelty would lose its grip. Pray especially for believers and churches in Iran, that pastors would be faithful, congregations would be courageous, and the gospel would run through the land like fire through dry grass.
Then lift your eyes. Above the prison and above the rope of execution.
A Son has been given. The government rests on His shoulder. Every crooked kingdom will one day crumble into dust, and the only throne left standing will be the throne of Jesus Christ.
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