WEDNESDAY
Denying Justice
To speak a bit more practically here, what are ways we deny justice in our lives? I want to just unpack two practical ways we deny justice as Christians.
External over the Internal
I think one way we can deny justice is when we focus on the external rather than the internal. This can lead to hypocrisy and legalism. The opposite of having a grace-fueled heart is the motivation to simply appear righteous on the outside. Jesus addresses this throughout His earthly ministry. He was constantly offering rebuttals to the scribes and Pharisees and comparing the self-righteous person to the faithful follower of God. We see this in Matthew 23, Jesus says:
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Jesus was and is always uniquely interested in our heart motive. Jesus is interested in cleansing us from the inside out, not the outside in. Jesus is interested in authentic and true justice that is fueled by the Grace of God.
Measured vs Trusting
Another way we deny justice is when we become measured in how to fulfill the demands of justice. Meaning, we need to realize how truly radical the demands of justice are. We tend to think we can fulfill all of the demands of justice and the law in our own strength. But by thinking that, we deny true justice.
For example, turn with me to Matthew chapter 5 in verse 43. This is where Jesus explains what it means to follow the law in the sermon on the mount. Matthew 5:43 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” This phrase here “You have heard is said” is referring not to the Levitical law, but rather the Jewish interpretation of it at the time. If you look back to Leviticus 19:18, which Matthew 5:43 is referencing, it says nothing about the second part of Jesus’ statement about “hating your enemy.” All it says is “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Now here is the question: Why would anyone want to add to the law of God? Don’t we have enough laws? The Jewish tradition has added to the laws of God, and offered commentaries on the laws of God. And so, Jesus is referencing here an interpretation of Leviticus 19, which has the addition of “hating your enemy.” But, why?
I think the reason is to make the radical command of “loving your neighbor as yourself” attainable. If we are promised to only love those who love us back, then we are good, right? If we have a deal made where if we love our neighbors, but only if we get to hate our enemy, we think we are obeying the law but are actually going against the very nature of the Gospel, which in and of itself is an injustice, a crime to the character of God.
Application: The practical result of this is that we become generous with just a few select people in our life who fit our mold of who we want to associate with, and we feel justified doing so. Or we don’t ever participate in one way giving in our life. How often do we do mercy and justice for people only to expect something in return?
We were not given the laws of God to become measured and add to it in order to figure out ways we can behaviorally obey it within the limitations of our desires. We were handed the law of God to feel the overwhelming holiness of God, the scary reality of our sin, and to point us to the Savior who fulfilled the laws, Jesus Christ.
Application: And so, we deny justice when we think in our own strength we can fulfill the command. It is only when we understand how, in our sin, we have committed injustice against the holiness God. And how, in Christ, He has radically fulfilled God’s wrath through His perfect sacrifice. It is only then when we have this proper posture that we can offer anyone justice and mercy in our communities.