What does Justice mean in the Bible?
We all have a sense of the rightness of justice and the wrongness of injustice which is a natural instinct developed at a young age. Children will quickly point out injustices (real or perceived) by saying, ‘that’s not fair’.
Sadly, we live in an imperfect world where people have searched for the correct response to the perpetration of injustices for years with varying degrees of success.
Different cultures adopt a system of justice based on a spectrum with retributive and restorative justice at each end, settling at some point in between. Retributive justice is the old testament standard of an eye for an eye. Whereas restorative justice attempts to bring something positive out of the situation whilst holding the perpetrator accountable. But still, people suffer from injustice daily.
Injustices are rife in families, businesses, politics, institutions and social environments. People cheat and rob and stir anger in others who do not know how to respond correctly, and we need to be better at knowing how to make things right in our messy everyday lives for ourselves, whether the injustice is criminal or not.
We need to learn how to better manage unfairness in our flawed world and communities because the wounds of both minor and significant injustices can be incredibly emotionally painful and leave lifelong damage and scars that fester at the core of a person’s being – their divine spirit.
But how do we do this?
Jesus can lead us in the way of Righteousness and Justice.
With Christ’s resurrection, something amazing happened in the Cosmos, and a perfect world that had become imperfect was then somehow set back on the right path.
When Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected to life, a door was opened for all to begin making things right in our broken world by following the examples and lessons that Jesus offered in his life on earth.
In many churches, the congregation recite a creed (the Nicene Creed) during Sunday worship, and there is a line where we say Jesus; will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
None of us is perfect. Only Jesus is. But we can try to live by his teachings and ask forgiveness for our errors and sins time and time again, and they will be forgiven. We can all live in the hope of everything promised to us to restore justice, peace, and eternal life.
Injustice has always been rife in the world. In the Old Testament Psalm 72, King Solomon prays to God for a king to restore justice to the world.
That king came to earth in the name of Jesus Christ.
Prayer for God’s Justice to prevail;
Psalm 72 NRSVA
Endow the king with your Justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
2 May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with Justice.
3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4 May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor.
5 May he endure[a] as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.
7 In his days may the righteous flourish
and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.
Find out more about Jesus in the links below:
