Representing Justice?
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· 8 viewsElijah had a special call on his life as a prophet, and his life is filled with incredible stories of faith and passion. If we practice humble obedience the way Elijah did, we can be like him: we can fulfill our unique purpose for God’s glory and find significance for our lives.
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Our political discourse is shaped by the language of justice.
When we think of Justice we think of the old dictionary definition...
jus·tice /ˈjəstəs/
noun - noun: justice; plural noun: justices
1. just behavior or treatment.
the administration of the law or authority in maintaining this.
the personification of justice, usually a blindfolded woman holding scales and a sword.
2. a judge or magistrate, in particular a judge of the Supreme Court of a country or state.
However, today leftist speak of Justice in different terms. We have a president whose first priority admittedly Equality and Equity. By this he does not mean that everyone will have the same opportunities. Which is what real equality is about. Rather he means equality of outcome.
You can see it in the way that our culture now couches the terms of Justice.
According to McCombs School of Business...
“Justice, for many people, refers to fairness. But while justice is important to almost everyone, it means different things to different groups.
For instance, social justice is the notion that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social opportunities irrespective of race, gender, or religion. Distributive justice refers to the equitable allocation of assets in society. Environmental justice is the fair treatment of all people with regard to environmental burdens and benefits.
Restorative or corrective justice seeks to make whole those who have suffered unfairly. Retributive justice seeks to punish wrongdoers objectively and proportionately. And procedural justice refers to implementing legal decisions in accordance with fair and unbiased processes.
Justice is one of the most important moral values in the spheres of law and politics. Legal and political systems that maintain law and order are desirable, but they cannot accomplish either unless they also achieve justice.”
https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/justice
Here is the problem Justice used to be blindfolded and you and I were going to be treated the same. no matter where we came from. Notice that Justice that is qualified is not justice.
Justice now removes her blindfold to meddle in the lives of those it is meant to serve. Each qualification pulls us further and further from what real justice looks like. The only fairness this dogma is giving us is we will all be broke together. We will all live in cities without police together. We will all be confused about what a girl or boy is together.
Justice has a part to play, the problem is that we will never know real justice until we are willing to let God handle the Justice.
But is justice really the best way of approaching the world?
Tell the account - Elijah leaves the creek bed, finds the widow, she cares for him. Then one day her son is dead. Elijah saves his life.
Consider the Justice that we find in these verses.
The request for water was completely fair. (10)
This was a cultural claim that would allow for him to request as a guest of the city a certain level of hospitality and it would have been an honor to oblige. NOTE: what makes this edgy is that we are in a drought.
The entire claim of Elijah is built on who has a right to her food. (11)
Of course she does. But Elijah claims it for himself and God.
She voluntarily moves herself from what is fair to comply by faith to God’s claim on her food. “make me a cake first.” (13-14)
It is here that we find God has little interest in fairness.
God has chosen Zaraphath. - home country to Jezebaal
God did not chose an Israelite -
And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
God’s supernatural supply of Grain and Oil was not fair, but God wasn’t interested in fair. 14-15
Why? because God isn’t interested in our busted Ideas of Fairness and Justice. He is interested in Faith.
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
But notice that Elijah and the Widow are still operating in Justice.
When her son dies, the widow is convinced that it is just punishment for something she has done (v. 18).
And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
Elijah appeals to God in terms of justice
It is not fair that he should leave her without a man to support her (v. 20).
And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
Justice prevails?!?!?!! Problem is… by implication of the reading is that if the situation had been different—if the woman wasn’t a widow, if she had another son—God might not have raised her.
Is fairness the reason that God heals the son from Zaraphath?
I have to thank Jesse Zink for the clarity on this subject...
Consider Luke 7.11-17
And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.
Remember that the miracles of the prophets and for Jesus were to substantiate the claims that they were from God. Luke points this out in his description of how the people spread the word about Jesus the prophet.
But Luke was not claiming that Jesus was a prophet but so much more than a prophet.
Notice the miracles themselves...
The major difference is that the motivation for Jesus acting to raise the son is not justice but compassion. Rather than imploring God to act justly, he simply reaches out his hand and raises the son.
Consider the lesson the crowd took from this act of compassion...
And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.
“God hath visited his people”
This was a phrase of Grace
But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
This was a phrase of Mercy
Through the tender mercy of our God;
Whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
This was a phrase of Promise
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
For he hath visited and redeemed his people,
And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us
In the house of his servant David;
Zechariah was looking at Jesus’ coming kingdom and the justice that will only come when christ is in on the Throne.
We do not look through the lense of Justice. For through Christ I did not get Justice I got mercy, grace, and promise.
Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
Salvation was opened to you and me because God visited us in mercy, grace, and promise.
Just like God chose the woman from Zaraphath. The saving work of God is not just for the Jewish people, but for all people from every race, culture, and tradition.
So when Luke uses “visited” in this passage, he is invoking the entire sweep of God’s saving action. God comes to each one of us while we are lost, wandering, and spiritually dead in sin, has compassion on us, and raises us to true and abundant life.
Grace is not Justice
Mercy is not Justice
Promise is not Justice
The question is who are we here to represent Justice or Jesus.
The world still insists in thinking in terms of justice—and sometimes Christians do too. But grace, mercy, and promise the central idea of the gospel, is not just—and that’s what make it so wonderful. The calling for Christians is to realize how lost and dead we are, to realize the depth and unjust nature of God’s love for us, to be transformed by this love, and then to share it with others who are similarly lost, broken, and dead.
God’s love is not just—and we thank God for that.
Helps: Justice and grace: the widow of Zarephath and the widow of Nain
On June 7, 2013 By Jesse Zink
Thoughts: What is interesting about this text is how rich it is with Biblical demonstration.
We see the faith of Elijah
We see the faith of the Widow
We see the grain and the importance that it didn’t come all at once or it never went away.
We see the hospitality
We see the boldness of Elijah.
Much can be said about this text but the student doesn’t let go of a text until he has arrived at the point.
