A desperate man, on the brink of death, was the transplant recipient of a pig’s heart. No other options were left for the patient. He was facing death. But not everyone thought the 57-year-old patient was worthy of the pig’s heart. Should a criminal record in someone’s past disqualify anyone from receiving a new heart?
It was his final attempt to live. David Bennett Sr. had struggled with heart issues for years. A decade earlier, the 57-year-old man had heart valve surgery. But in late 2021, Bennett was in dire straits. Like so many others, he needed a new heart.
David Bennett Sr. and his Family
The reality is the demand for new hearts is far greater than the supply. Even though 3,817 Americans received human donor hearts in 2021, twelve people who needed a heart died every day the same year. (1)
Mr. Bennett was too sick to qualify for a human donor heart, and he hadn’t been medically compliant in the past. (2) Other treatments had been exhausted. In the ICU of the University of Maryland Medical Center, Dr. Bartley Griffith approached him with a critical decision.
Dr. Bartley Griffith and Patient David Bennett Sr.
The New York Times reported it this way:
Dr. Griffith said he first broached the experimental treatment in mid-December, a “memorable” and “pretty strange” conversation.
“I said, ‘We can’t give you a human heart; you don’t qualify. But maybe we can use one from an animal, a pig,” Dr. Griffith recalled. “It’s never been done before, but we think we can do it.'”
“I wasn’t sure he was understanding me,” Dr. Griffith added. “Then he said, ‘Well, will I oink?'”
We can only imagine the contortions of one’s mind as Mr. Bennett weighed the options. “It was either die or do this transplant,” Mr. Bennett said before the surgery. “I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice.” (3)
On New Year’s Eve, emergency approval was given to use a genetically altered pig’s heart for a human transplant – for the first time ever. A few days later, Mr. Bennett was wheeled into the operating theatre. After a few unexpected twists and turns and fearful moments during the 8-hour surgery – the pig’s heart began to beat, and the medical team considered it a success.
We can only pray that Mr. Bennett will get stronger each day and will eventually be able to return to his home and family. The reality was – this father of two had a stark choice to make. In his own words, he said: “It was either die or do this transplant…and…I want to live.”
Heart Recipient David Bennett Sr. and son David Bennett Jr.
Not everyone was thrilled that David Bennett Sr. was the recipient of a pig’s heart. Thirty-four years earlier he was convicted of stabbing a man multiple times and ended up receiving a ten-year prison sentence. A relative of the victim said the family wished the pig’s heart had gone to a more “deserving recipient.” (4)
The ethicists, no doubt, will weigh in on this debate. Perhaps you will also have some strong feelings one way or the other as to who should qualify for a pig’s heart and what factors should be considered. But there is also a spiritual angle for all of us to ponder. Who should qualify for a new heart? What makes one more “deserving” than another?
HEART PROBLEMS RAMPANT
We don’t talk about it often, but every single one of us has a bad and broken heart. It seems that every heart-chamber
is broken and has been for as long as we can remember. If we ever did half the things we secretly think about in our hearts – we certainly would tumble off our little perches. Respect for our carefully manicured and crafted reputation would plummet, and our chances for winning the Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award would be blown for sure.
I could never face having all my secret deeds and thoughts being exposed and transcribed on a great white wall. I might have a better reputation than my neighbour, but if all the secrets of my heart and my private thoughts were exposed in a prime-time documentary, I would never show my face again. If God granted a “new heart” based on one’s worthiness and moral qualifications, I would never have qualified.
DEMAND EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY
The demand for new-to-you-human-hearts outstrips the supply. As mentioned above, even though 3,817 Americans received human donor hearts in 2021, twelve others died every day on the long waiting list. So even with the demand whittled down by applying stringent qualifying medical criteria, people are still dying on the long waiting list. In the case of Mr. Bennett, even to qualify for a pig’s heart – some thought moral metrics should also be added to the medical criteria – like the fact that he had a criminal record.
DEMAND SIDE – No Waiting List Exists
Not only is God’s gracious offer of a new heart not contingent on one’s worthiness, or the accumulation of moral credits or personal merit, there are no limits on the supply side! God’s offer is sufficient to meet every demand – including yours. Equipping you with a new ‘spiritual’ heart is not a risky manoeuvre on God’s part. He does it all from beginning to end with a perfect track record of success. All He is looking for are willing recipients. God has no ‘wait list’. The moment you express a need and desire – He meets your deepest need completely. He has no backlog.
Short Video – Idioms and Metaphors – Lesson #1 Turning Over a New Leaf
SUPPLY SIDE – Available to All
Consider just a few Bible verses that speak to the supply side of God’s incredible grace – all locations; all sinners and all sins!
He [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (Mark 16:15)
He [God] who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all …(1 Timothy 2:5-6)
The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1John 1:7)
WHOEVER QUALIFIES – on the Demand Side
Multiple times in the Bible the word whoever is used. Even though God’s beautiful offer of a new life, a new heart and eternal life is made to everyone, He also respects the will of individuals to choose. Whoever is willing receives eternal life. No one is more deserving than another – no one! It’s a level playing field for all sinners. Consider the word whoever in these Bible verses:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. (John 3:36)
Jesus said: Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:12)
Conclusion
A new heart is a metaphor for the new birth that Jesus said was a must if anyone wants to be in the Kingdom of God – if anyone wants to be in God’s family – if anyone wants to be in Heaven. Yes, a must! John 3:7
2Corinthians 5:17 says that a person who has turned to Christ for salvation is a “new creation.”
I do not feel worthy of God’s amazing grace and the new life and the new heart He has given me. He didn’t bless me because I deserved to be blessed but because of the same worth and value He places on every person. He places the same value on you – regardless of your past and regardless of the brokenness and the sin you see in yourself.
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
God delights in giving helpless sinners a new heart – a new life is fully available to you and you qualify – but are you interested?
Sources:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/10/health/heart-transplant-pig-bennett.html
- https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-pig-heart-surgeon-responds-patients-prison-sentence-1669593#Echobox=1642252372
- ibid.
- ibid.
- ibid.
Other Sources: