Resurrection
Have you ever wondered why, after the resurrection of Jesus, He did not pop into Pilate’s throne room or the monthly meeting of the Sanhedrin? What difference do you think this display would have meant for His claims of righteousness? In the last sermon on “Kingship,” we saw that He could have called on a legion of angels to conquer and rule had He wished. Why does He refuse to prove He is right? All He needed to do was think it, and it would have been so. If it had been me, I would have, if I am honest!
His Kingdom
“Justice” is MacDonald’s first reflection on series three’s theme of “Kingship.” If Jesus is King, then what will His Kingdom look like? Will He use righthanded power to rule, or will He use humility to serve? Will it be a Kingdom of warriors or a Kingdom of children? A Kingdom where the force of law and rules control, or where the power of love yields? Is it about a great king on a magnificent throne thinking how great he is or a servant with a towel and a bowl of water washing feet?
Human government could not fulfill the desire of His heart or accomplish His ends. So, He did not think to use His power to persuade. Or, perhaps more accurately, His Father did not think it, say it, or do it, so neither did He! He in Himself and for Himself did not need to be right!
Stop here for a moment and ponder. As I have said before, being right is over rated and we only imagine we are right despite our emphatic assertions. Of course, Jesus was right, but being right meant nothing to Him. He had no need in Himself to make the point, for to do so would have meant missing the point altogether. The rulers would have known how wrong they were; think of the justification He would have had and the fear and respect it would have created? And here we come to the flaw in the right and wrong righteousness theories of justice. It is we in our self-righteous anger who need to be right, and we tar God’s face with our wrath against wrong and say to ourselves, “that is just like God!” But it is not!
His Justice
Justice for us is about being right. Justice for God is about mercy and love for the wrong-doer. To free the ones from their wrongs is to deliver them from themselves. We must see it, hate it, and desire Their help to destroy it in us. It does not matter where we are on the scale or what yardstick we use. Justice is only achieved when the sinner rejects his yardstick, repents for measuring in the first place, and becomes like his Master. That is to love, both their neighbor and enemy with the same other-centered love that has no party, no clan, and no separation within our common Fatherhood in God!
Justice as Right?
If my idea of justice, or yours, does not create a relationship of love between God and man, and man and man, then it is NOT Divine Justice!
Justice as Right? is the introductory blog for the sermon below: