Wile E. Coyote and Odd Symmetry

If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will roll back and crush you. - Proverbs 26:27

Do you remember the Bugs Bunny Road Runner Show? I used to love watching the coyote trying to catch the road runner. “Wile E. Coyote – Genius” it said on his business card. He would buy a catapult from the ACME company and try to launch a big rock. The only problem was that the rock went straight up and landed on him. He tried to move farther away but the platform flipped instead of the arm and landed on him. It seemed that no matter what he did, it ended up hurting him!

There is a great biblical principle hidden in this cartoon designed for children (or the child-like). There is an odd symmetry to the universe. “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you,” says the Lord (Genesis 12:3). “(The wicked) set an ambush for themselves; they booby-trap their own lives! Such is the fate of all who are greedy for gain. It ends up robbing them of life” (Proverbs 1:18-19). “Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need” (Proverbs 21:13). Jesus taught, “Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged.” What goes around comes around.

In the book of Esther, a wicked bigot named Haman lusted after power and hated a Jew named Mordecai. He plotted and schemed to gain power for which Mordecai cared not a fig. But because Mordecai loyally served the king, Haman ended up being forced to honor Mordecai publicly (6:11). He tried to have the Jews killed by deceiving the king, only to end up having the Gentiles slaughtered by the Jews by order of the king. He wanted to have Mordecai hung, so he had gallows built in his yard that he and his sons ended up hanging on! We see in chapter eight that Haman’s signet ring was given to Mordecai. His house was given to Mordecai. Everything he desired was given to his enemy. Everything he plotted fell back on him.

Jesus understood this odd symmetry, this reciprocity that runs the universe and taught that if we want to gain our lives we must be willing to lose them. If we want to be great in the kingdom of God, we must be willing to be the least. If we want to rule, we must be willing to serve. Small wonder then that He would teach us “Do for others what you would like them to do for you. This is a summary of all that is taught in the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12).