Why is Justice Important to a Christian?
The concept of justice is woven throughout the Bible and Jesus’ ministry while on earth. Micah tells us that the Lord requires us to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [our] God.”[1] In Isaiah 1:17, the prophet wrote, “learn to do good; seek justice; correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” The prophets were very clear about the importance of justice. Isaiah, in chapter 28, wrote about the “cornerstone”, that is Jesus, being laid in Zion and He — Jesus — is a sure foundation such that the person who believes in Him will be unshakable. Isaiah then wrote, as a direct message from God, “And I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the mason’s level.”[2]
Righteousness & Justice
The terms “righteousness” and “justice” are often used together and at times interchanged throughout Scripture. The righteousness/justice word duo, found in the Hebrew Bible some 30 times, is used throughout Judaic history in various ways often intertwined with words such as “truth” and “kindness.”[3] The definition of the term has evolved and its use is fluid. Righteousness can refer to, for example, a legal concept, such as a judicial proceeding, or the covenant between God and man, or to social justice. To some scholars, its usage can be summed up in one all-encompassing concept: salvation. This salvation component is why justice is important to the Christian.
Some of the common beliefs held as Christ-followers, are to provide for the needy, protect the weak, and help those who are oppressed. Those principles date back to the patriarchal period, where “justice and righteousness” are first seen as a word pair wherein Abraham and his descendants are charged with doing righteousness and justice.[4] These teachings form the basis for the use of righteousness and justice within the social context, that is, to perform acts of righteousness and justice. The idea of helping the poor, hungry, widowed, and others within the lower spectrum of society was seen earlier in Jewish society; for example, Ezekiel and Isaiah wrote that providing food and clothing to the poor is required.[5] It was to these prophets that the Jews looked when faced with the unrest in their own society.
Where Justice and Mercy Meet
Righteousness is a “basic ethical demand for humans living together,” a concept central to Jews and Christians.[6]The biblical use of the term “refers broadly to ‘doing, being, declaring, or bringing about what is right.’”[7] This is where justice and mercy meet.
The linking of “justice” and “righteousness” and the interchange of the terms throughout Scripture are intentional. In the Old Testament, “what is just is intrinsically bound up with what is good… justice is ordered toward righteousness; in particular, it is directed toward the establishment of right relations between people and God.”[8] Righteousness and justice are concerned with the deliverance and liberation of the oppressed, the poor, the destitute, and indeed of all of humanity. It is redemptive and salvific. It is the “‘foundation’ of God’s throne, the fundamental ground of the cosmos.”[9]
What the Bible Says About Justice
There are exhortations to do justice; that is, to perform acts of kindness and charity and to treat others justly. However, first and foremost, the idea of righteousness and justice is an extension of God’s design to deliver man from sin.[10] When the term righteousness is used outside of the legal concept, it is inherently a term associated with the sense of “right order, a situation that is according to God’s will, design, plan, way and ordination... a righteous action is one that either maintains or restores the right order.”[11] God’s righteousness is salvific; it’s deliverance, a saving action. It is thus, initially, a vertical concept that requires action by God to deliver man. This then transcends to a horizontal concept for man to do what is just and right to his fellow man. Jesus was the embodiment of restoring right order, both vertically and horizontally, of righteousness and justice.
To the prophet Isaiah, justice and righteousness are about action: “to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke... to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him....”[12]
Reading the Bible, particularly the prophets, it is evident what the Bible says about justice is that the demand for social justice was directly from God, “who has determine[d] to secure the good and beneficial order of creation.”[13] The establishment of justice begins with God. In the Old Testament, the order for just actions was from God to the king and then to all of the people. When the Jewish people no longer had a king, it became a horizontal relationship, such that men and women had to treat one another justly and care for one another. Individual responsibility to treat others justly and equally is substantiated by Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46 calling “blessed” those who performed acts to help those in need. We the people are to do justice to one another.
What is Justice in Christianity?
The terminology found in the Hebrew Bible further substantiates the expectation of action associated with this phrase. “To do righteous” [deeds, acts, etc.] occurs 24 times; “righteousness and just judgment” occurs 26 times, while “to judge righteously” occurs only 14 times and “righteous judgment” occurs only nine times.[14] This indicates the emphasis on action, on doing, not a mere concept or something abstract. It requires less judging, more action.
“Justice” is a word tossed around in American society today. As Christians, we need a clear understanding of that term and what Jesus requires of us. This blog is the first in a series to address justice from the Christian perspective.
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[1] Micah 6:8
[2] Isaiah 28:16-17
[3] Marlon, Hilary. “Justice for Whom? Social and Environmental Ethics and the Hebrew Prophets” in Ethical and Unethical in the Old Testament: God and Humans in Dialogue. ed. by Katharine Dell. New York: T&T Clark International, 2010: 104.
[4] Ibid 104.
[5] Weinfeld, Moshe. Social Justice in Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995: 222.
[6] Henning Graf Reventlow and Yair Hoffma, eds. Justice and Righteousness: Biblical Themes and their Influence. Sheffield: JSOT Press,1992: 163.
[7] Marshall, Chris. The Little Book of Biblical Justice. Intercourse: Good Books, 2005: 11.
[8] Bell, Daniel M Jr. “Jesus, The Jews, and the Politics of God’s Justice”. Ex Auditu (2006): 87-112, 100.
[9] Marshall, 23.
[10] Bell, 100.
[11] Campbell, John. “The Righteousness of God.” Affirmation (September 2013): 80.
[12] Weinfeld, 18; Isaiah 58:6.
[13] “Righteousness Language in the Hebrew Scriptures and Early Judaism.” Justification and Variegated Nomism: The Complexities of Second Temple Judaism. Vol. 1, ed. by D. A. Carson, Mark A. Seifrid, and Peter T. O’Brien. Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001: 426.
[14] Seifrid, 428.