Justice, Mercy and Grace

The scriptures referred to are Isaiah 42:1-9 and Matthew 3:13-17.

In my sophomore year of college, I was assigned to off-campus housing. It was simply an old house with its back fence next to some train tracks. The first day I was there, moving in my stuff, I was startled by the way the whole house shook when the train roared past. And it was a commuter line so the house shook several times a day, every day. But by the end of the week, I no longer registered the seismic disturbance. I had acclimated. (By the way they tore down that house the next summer.)

Once you get used to something, you cease to notice it, no matter how good or bad it is. Someone has to point it out before you seriously think about it. If you decide that it is not a good thing, you need to think about changing it. But as a nurse I know that people can tolerate a heck of a lot before the situation becomes so painful they decide to do something about it.

Things were bad for the Jews in what was once the land of Israel. And I think that was why so many people came to John the Baptist. John was pointing out how far the people had strayed from what God wanted. And he proposed a fairly novel solution. Baptism was a purification rite mostly reserved for Gentiles converting to Judaism. However, some Jewish sects did require ritual immersion to purify new members. That meant that when a Jew decided to get baptized it was a sign that they thought things were so bad spiritually that they essentially had to start over in their relationship with God.

John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 3:3) So after getting baptized, people were supposed to show their repentance by living differently. Luke tells us that when people asked John what should they do now, he gave them very concrete examples. They were to share their food and clothing with those who lacked them. Tax collectors were not to collect more than required. Soldiers were not to shake down people or threaten them with false accusations but to be content with their pay. (Luke 3:10-14) In other words, they were to be fair in their dealings with others and generous to the poor. Or in biblical terms, be both just and merciful.

Jesus coming to John to be baptized created a bit of a dilemma. John knew that Jesus had nothing to repent of and didn't need to start his relationship with God over. So why did Jesus come to be baptized? He says, “Permit it for now; for it is appropriate for us to complete all justice in this way.” (Matthew 3:15, my translation) In other words, Jesus is doing everything a Jew should do in this case to comply with God's will. He is not starting off by saying “The rules don't apply to me,” the way some leaders do. Remember what we said last week about Jesus not holding onto his privilege as God the Son. Instead, he humbled himself and became a servant.

Notice I chose to translate the word usually rendered as “righteousness” here by its other meaning, “justice.” Jesus being baptized is just and fair. If we have to undergo baptism, so will he. Jesus never asks us to do anything he is not willing to do.

The other reason I translated it as “justice” is to show its connection with our passage from Isaiah. Three times it mentions justice as something God's servant is active in doing: “he will bring forth justice to the nations,” “he will faithfully bring forth justice,” “He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth.” Justice is an important part of his mission.

Justice or fairness is a subject Jesus touches upon again and again. One place you see it is in the Sermon on the Mount. Those who mourn will be comforted; those who are merciful will be shown mercy; those who suffer for Jesus' sake will be greatly rewarded in heaven. (Matthew 5:3-12) This is even more stark in the version we find in Luke, where those who lack the basics of life will be compensated while those with more than enough will suffer reversals of their fortunes. (Luke 6:20-26)

Jesus actually tightens up the meaning of various moral laws to go beyond superficial observance. It is not enough to refrain from murder; one must not attack people verbally. It is not enough to refrain from sexually assaulting a woman; you shouldn't even be entertaining the thought. (Matthew 5:21-23, 27-28) If you pass judgment on others the standard you use will be used in judging you. (Matthew 7:1-2) The rule of thumb is to treat other people in the same way you would like to be treated. (Matthew 7:12)

But why didn't Jesus then go on to establish justice as Isaiah predicted? Remember how we pointed out that John preached not only justice but mercy? So did Jesus. But he emphasized mercy. Because not only did Jesus preach repentance leading to the forgiveness of sins, he was actually able to forgive people their sins. (Matthew 9:2) Giving people what they deserve is justice. Not giving them all they deserve is mercy. Strict justice would eliminate all mercy. Forgiveness is forgoing absolute justice. God's justice is tempered with mercy.

But God is more than simply just and merciful: he is gracious. Grace is being given what you cannot possibly deserve. Jesus really emphasized that. So he said we must not retaliate but turn the other cheek when struck. And we must love our enemies, for even God gives sun and vital rain to everyone, both good people and bad. And we are to be like God. (Matthew 5:38-48)

In his parables, Jesus emphasizes God's grace. He is like a shepherd who will go off to find one lost sheep. (Matthew 18:12-14) He is like a vineyard owner who pays everyone the same good wage regardless of how late they are invited to the work. (Matthew 20:1-16) He is like the father who welcomes back his screw-up son when the kid comes to his senses and returns and then the father throws a party. (Luke 15:11-32) Jesus also commends the person who goes above and beyond to help a total stranger in need. (Luke 10:30-37)

In fact, Jesus is so much about mercy and grace that old “hellfire and brimstone” John the Baptist asks Jesus if he misidentified him as the Messiah. (Matthew 11:2-6) What nobody understood was that Jesus' first coming was to offer the good news of forgiveness and reconciliation to God. He did not come to condemn the world but to save it. (John 3:17) And to all who received him and put their trust in his name, he gave the right to be children of God. (John 1:12)

But offering mercy and grace is not the same as justice. And we see that despite all that Jesus said and did, the world is not filled with justice. Just listen to the news. People murder and cheat and harm one another in a million ways. Jesus knew that even some who call him Lord would do evil. (Matthew 7:21-23)

God is not oblivious to the existence of evil. In fact the first disobedience takes place in the 3^rd chapter of the first book of the Bible. The first murder happens in chapter 4. And in chapter 6, it says, “But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time...The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:5, 11) That's the reason for the flood and God rebooting creation.

But evil persists. So why doesn't God do something about it? Anti-theists often argue that there can't be a loving or just God because he lets such things go on. They ask, “Why would God allow this?” But since they don't believe in God, the real question they should ask is “Why do humans allow this?” If humans, and not God, are the actual superior intelligence in the world, and we see how bad things are, why don't we stop it? And they can't simply say it's ignorance, because a lot of evil is done knowingly. People know that what they are doing or planning to do will harm others and they do it anyway. It's almost as if there is something fundamentally wrong with humans morally that needs fixing.

As we said, God knows this. His prophets point it out frequently. His laws tell us what we should and should not do. We choose not to obey them or to only do so when it suits us. The key word is choose. One way to eliminate evil without eliminating people altogether would be to eliminate our ability to choose. That way we couldn't choose to do evil. But I doubt those who criticize God would want him to turn us all into robots or puppets.

But while people created in God's image continue to use the gifts he gave them to harm others, God won't let that go on forever. Judgment and justice are what Jesus' second coming is about. (Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 4:1)

But why the delay? Once again it is mercy. As it says in 2 Peter, “God is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) When everyone has had a chance to respond to the gospel and all who will turn to God have done so, only then will the final act begin.

But for now we live in the time of grace. As Paul says, “Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2) If we put all our trust in Jesus, following him wherever he leads us, we need not fear judgment. (John 3:16, 18) And indeed when we give our lives to Jesus, who gave his life for us, he also gives us his Spirit to guide and empower us, so that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. (John 16:13; 2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 12:2) That's the way God has chosen to eliminate evil: by changing us into people who use our power of choice to choose the way of the God who is love.

And it starts with baptism, as Jesus shows us. But it doesn't end there. In the prayer Jesus taught us, we ask God that “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And we are the ones who are to do God's will. This is not a contradiction of the idea that we are saved by God's grace. As Paul says, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ for good works that God has prepared beforehand so we may do them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10, emphasis mine)

While we are not saved by our good deeds, if we are saved the natural result is that we do good works. You don't fix a broken leg by walking on it. But once the doctor has fixed your leg, and you have healed enough, it is natural to want to walk on it. And in fact the physical therapist will help you get strong and flexible enough to walk again and help you take your first steps. Think of the Holy Spirit whom we receive at baptism as our therapist, helping you in your walk with God. The Spirit will show us how and help us do the will of the one who created us to do the good works he has prepared for us.

And there's a lot to be done. As we said, the world is full of injustice. People are not being treated fairly. People are suffering and not getting help. Jesus helped people who were suffering and hungry and burdened by their past sins. We can do that as well, if not exactly as he did. As the body of Christ, we believers should also be doing what Jesus began. We will not finish it all. He will. But he wants to see us doing the work he's given us to do when he returns. (Matthew 24:46)

People do not listen to those who preach the gospel while ignoring suffering or justifying injustice. Christians in the past understood this. In the New Testament we read of how churches shared their resources to take care of the poor. (Acts 4:34-35) The apostles appointed the first deacons to take care of the daily distribution of food to widows. (Acts 6:1-6) Paul encouraged a collection be made by his churches for the poor in Jerusalem. (Romans 15:26; Galatians 2:10) After Christianity became legal and the first church council was held in Nicaea in 325 AD, every cathedral town in the empire started building a hospital. Beginning in the 5th century, cathedral schools were founded. Christians were in the forefront of the movement to abolish slavery. Christian leaders were prominent in the civil rights movement. And a lot of these things are just considered things any society should do, however secular it is.

Life is not fair. And while we believe that this will be totally remedied when Jesus returns, that doesn't let us off the hook. We can do what we can to make it fairer now. Jesus scolded the religious leaders of his day for focusing on minutiae while they “neglect what is more important in the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” (Matthew 23:23) And if we are to be faithful to Jesus, we must not neglect these things either. As Jesus said, “let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)