The Biblical Theme of Justice

Third Quarter 2000

by James W. Skillen

A new book and companion booklet have just been released by CRC Publications and the Center for Public Justice. The book's title is A Covenant to Keep: Meditations on the Biblical Theme of Justice. It contains 75 meditations, 15 under each of five sections: Justice Required, Justice Restrained, Justice Administered, Justice Assured, and Justice Fulfilled. A short introduction precedes each section. Suggestions for reflection and action follow each meditation.

The companion booklet, titled The Biblical Theme of Justice, contains only the five section-introductions, with suggestions for reflection and action after each one. Teachers and discussion-group leaders will find the booklet useful for group study independent of the larger book. The book can be used for devotional meditation, pastoral study, or the mining of biblical wisdom for contemporary life. The book is available from the Center bookstore. The following excerpts are drawn from the introduction and one of the meditations of Part III, "Justice Administered."

The Mystery of Human Accountability

How can the Creator be satisfied with the human administration of justice in creation when the administrators are mired in sin and bent on disobedience? God's way of dealing with fallen men and women is a mystery that has been unfolding through history and is now coming to full disclosure. Part of the story is God's persistence in being merciful to those responsible for the administration of justice. Yet in face of their disobedience God has had to take decisive action to judge and redeem the world so the creation can reach its Sabbath fulfillment.

By upholding the creation with grace and mercy, the Lord has been at work exposing the difference between justice and injustice. Men and women, called to govern, have not been left in darkness without a witness to the truth about what God requires.

The Responsibility of Administration

Many citizens of the United States hold a negative view of government and of public officials. Yet, if we take time to think about it, we can find many examples of judges, governors, public administrators, and citizens who, by God's grace, have taken up the cause of the stranger or helped break the fangs of the wicked (Job 29:11-17) in order to protect the innocent.

My friend Don Smarto, who worked for many years in the criminal justice system, endured great personal pain in order to contribute to the judicial administration of justice. Telling of his own traumatic experience when required to testify in the trial of his brother for bank robbery, he says: "I will never forget walking out of that courtroom. There were no agents, not even the prosecutor to say thank you or goodbye. I walked down a Chicago street, thinking about the Civil War and how brothers could end up on different sides of a conflict. . . . I didn't understand how [God] would use this, but I understood clearly who was responsible. I hung on to the simple belief that followers of Christ were not to lie. Although I had witnessed a lot of untruthfulness on the witness stand over the years, I had no choice but to take that oath seriously" (Pursued, InterVarsity Press, p. 190).

By pointing to the requirements of justice while calling human beings to their inescapable responsibility, God has been revealing the truth about both the Creator and the creation, about both God and the image of God. Justice has to do with the way humans live in relation to God, to one another, and to the rest of the creation. It has to do, for example, with how we deal with the poor and the needy, the stranger and the oppressed, the thief and the murderer.

The Scriptures also make clear that the inescapable responsibility of administering justice belongs not only to those who thankfully receive the Lord's redeeming grace. Every man and woman throughout the human generations stands accountable before God.

The apostle Paul reminded the Roman Christians to submit to human government because it is established by God. This is not to say that everything each ruler does is just and proper. Rather, it is to say that the authority to administer justice is God-given. Regardless of whether a ruler is elected or not, a follower of Jesus Christ or an atheist, that person bears responsibility from God to administer justice.

Our Representative

For his part, Jesus submitted to jeers and flogging (Heb. 11:36) in order to fulfill his Father's just condemnation of disobedient men and women. Jesus testified to the requirements of God's justice even as he collapsed under the weight of Pilate's unfair trial. For the love of both God and the human creatures with whom he cast his lot, Jesus accepted the penalty of God's verdict against sin.

However, the prophetic words Jesus spoke to Pilate about his own kingship were fulfilled when the Father accepted Jesus as the representative human administrator of justice for the whole creation and unleashed the Holy Spirit on the earth at Pentecost. The complete manifestation of Jesus' kingship has not yet come, but when it does, the truth will be made known that his administration encompasses the entire creation.

As the Lord walks with men and women through history, the drama of human justice and injustice reveals with increasing clarity who God is and who we are. And one day we will experience the final outcome of the drama when God's chosen and approved Judge, Jesus Christ, opens all the books and settles all accounts (Rev. 11:15-18). In him and through him our earthly responsibility for the administration of justice will be fulfilled.

Responsibility of and for the Poor: Proverbs 10:4; 13:23; 14:31

Sloth is a cause of poverty, according to one proverb: "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth" (10:4). Yet we should not make the mistake of asking a single proverb to bear the full weight of God's revelation about poverty. Don't overlook the message of Proverbs 13:23: "A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away."

How many poor people in our society today are working hard in their respective fields, yet end up with very little because crime reduces their property values to nothing and random violence sweeps away their spouses or parents or children? How many of the poor could be producing abundantly but are unable to do so because failing schools have not prepared them for employment?

Now add the wisdom of another proverb: "He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God" (14:31). Some poor people need to experience the tough love that pushes them to get jobs; true kindness will not encourage slothful adults to continue in their laziness. But be slow to judge! Many needy persons are not unwilling to work. This proverb is crystal clear: All oppression of the poor displays contempt for God. Every person bears the high dignity of being created in God's image. The poor also deserve just treatment and kindness.

If we put these three proverbs together, we come up with a remarkable storehouse of wisdom. That wisdom begins with honoring God in true humility, with hearts of thankfulness. That, in turn, will lead us to see others in the same light—as people called to be thankful stewards of God. Proper acts of kindness will follow.

But acts of kindness by themselves are not enough. They must not blind us to the organized and even institutionalized injustice that also causes and aggravates poverty. Genuine kindness will drive us to seek the reversal of unjust laws and social patterns that sweep away the fruits of the poor person's labor.

And this brings us back to the importance of work. The Creator gave us our marching orders in the beginning, including the command to work six days and to rest every seventh. We all need to work—and to work together—diligently. Everyone's dignity is a stake. If we work together, we will be able to rest together in thankfulness on the Sabbath.