Perfect Justice

The concept of justice is a hot topic in America these days. From debates over the existence of systemic injustice in the justice system and what the best solutions are to injustice experienced in our society to television dramas with plot lines depicting corrupt judges, tampered juries, and unreliable witnesses, we’re inundated with miscarriages of justice both in fiction and in reality.

When you stop to think about it, it’s a marvel that true justice is ever accomplished in this world. How do we know evidence hasn’t been tampered with or planted? How do we know witnesses aren’t lying or simply misremembering what they saw? Even with the purest of motives and best of intentions, witnesses, judges, and juries are subject to the realities of living in a fallen world. Things might not be as they appear—or they might be exactly as they appear. There are times when we simply have to take someone at their word—or decide not to. We might be certain we remember exactly what happened—until we start having doubts about what we actually saw or heard.

All this uncertainty and the limitations of human perception and understanding can leave us with a fairly pessimistic view of even the best justice systems around the world. But we can find great encouragement and reassurance in the fact that human justice systems are not all there is. There is a higher system of justice, presided over by a Judge who is perfect in wisdom, perfect in knowledge, who perceives all and understands all completely.

The prophet Isaiah, living in an ancient society where injustice was pervasive, prophesied of One to come who would be altogether different in His capacities for judgment:

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,

               the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

               the Spirit of counsel and might,

               the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

               or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

               and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

               and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

               and faithfulness the belt of his loins” (Isaiah 11:1-5, ESV).

 

In this description of Jesus Christ, notice how many qualities He has that make Him the perfect, infallible judge. He bears the Spirit of Yahweh (the relational, covenantal name for God), and this Spirit includes wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, and the fear of God (v. 2). Unlike human judges who can only go by what they observe with their limited senses, He does not judge based on sight or hearing but with perfect righteousness and equity because He knows all, even man’s very thoughts (v. 3). And not only is He characterized by righteousness, but He is faithful (v. 5). His perfect justice is not a conditional or flaky thing—it is constant and sure.

 

When compared with other parts of Scripture, there are clues in this passage that also speak to Jesus’ divinity because the same types of descriptions are used for God the Father:

 

“God is a righteous judge,

and a God who feels indignation every day” (Psalm 7:11, ESV).

 

“But the LORD sits enthroned forever;

               he has established his throne for justice,

and he judges the world with righteousness;

               he judges the peoples with uprightness” (Psalm 9:7-8, ESV).

 

“The heavens declare his righteousness,

               for God himself is judge!” (Psalm 50:6, ESV)

 

“Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you judge the peoples with equity

and guide the nations upon earth” (Psalm 67:4, ESV).

 

“‘At the set time that I appoint

               I [God] will judge with equity’” (Psalm 75:2, ESV).

 

“Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!

Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;

he will judge the peoples with equity. […]

He will judge the world in righteousness,

and the peoples in his faithfulness” (Psalm 96:10, 13b, ESV).

 

“I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

               and will execute justice for the needy” (Psalm 140:12, ESV).

 

“But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause” (Jeremiah 11:20, ESV).

 

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,” (1 Peter 1:17, ESV).

 

“When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23, ESV).

 

That last verse is speaking of Jesus, God the Son, entrusting himself to God the Father. As I’ve discussed in another post, one of the most amazing things about Jesus’ behavior during His unjust trial and execution is that He had the self-control to endure all the injustice when He had the power to stop it. As Peter said, He did not retaliate or make threats; He knew that God was a just judge. He knew that God saw His complete innocence, and He also understood that in willingly taking on the sin of the whole world He would experience punishment at the hand of the Father but that the Father would ultimately give Him vindication in the Resurrection and Ascension and would punish those who were unjustly accusing and sentencing Him if they did not repent. He didn’t have to avenge Himself because He knew the Father was completely Just.

 

Just as Jesus “entrust[ed] himself to him who judges justly,” so too can we find peace and consolation when we experience injustice in this world because we know that the matter is ultimately in God’s hands. No one who wrongs us can escape His notice. Even if they seem to be getting away with it here on earth, they stand before a Perfect Judge, one who says, ““Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” (Romans 12:19, ESV). We don’t have to plot our own revenge. We don’t have to live thinking that evil deeds will never come to light. This can give us great comfort, especially when we feel helpless to bring about justice in this world. We can be sure that God always renders an accurate, just, perfect judgment, correctly identifying the evildoer and exonerating the innocent.

 

But of course, when it comes to standing before a holy God, none of us is truly innocent. We all fall short of His righteous standard (see Romans 3:23). And in this case, His perfect Judgment should make us tremble if we think that we in any way can pretend to be unguilty before Him. All our faults, our rebellions, our shortcomings are laid bare under His gaze, and our only hope for pardon is in Jesus. Because God is perfectly just, He cannot let the guilty go free without a consequence being paid. But because Jesus took the consequence for us, experiencing the full wrath of the Just God against our sin, which He took on Himself, all of us who turn from our rebellion and believe in what He did on our behalf can experience full pardon from God. The demands of justice have been met in full, and because of that, God in His perfect judgment can offer us the verdict of abundant life in His presence forevermore.

 

Praise God that He in all His fullness—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is impartial, faithful, righteous, equitable, perfect in wisdom and knowledge and understanding, always rendering perfect judgment. He cannot be bribed or mistaken or prejudiced. He sees and hears and knows all completely. What a beautiful, wonderful, marvelous God!

PC: Eric Eanes. Used with permission.

الحياة بعد الفصح

هل فكرت يوماً بحال التلاميذ باليوم الذي تلى الفصح؟ الكتاب المقدس لم يخبرنا ولكن يمكننا أن نتصور ذلك بمساعدة خيالنا المستنير. إذا قلنا أن يوم الأحد الذي تلى صلب المسيح "قد كان يوماً مليئا بالأحداث !"فقط فسيكون ذلك قليلاً. بدأ ذلك الأحد مبكراً جداً بتوجه النساء الى القبر واللاتي اكتشفن أنه فارغ بل وأن هناك ملاكاً يتحدث اليهنّ ويخبرهنّ بأن يسوع حي! (متى 28 : 1- 6، مرقس 16 :1-6 ، لوقا 24 :1-7) فخرجن راكضات ليخبرن التلاميذ، وكما يمكن لك أن تتصور لم يصدقهن البعض، فذهب بطرس ويوحنا سريعاً الى القبر ليروا بأنفسهم وبالطبع وجدوه فارغاً(مرقس 16 :11 ،لوقا 24 :11، يوحنا 20 :3-10). هل تعتقد أن أحداث هذا اليوم انتهت؟ انتظر، فذلك غيض من فيض ،لقد رأت مريمُ يسوع بأم عينيها! (يوحنا 20 :11-17) و بعد ذلك قابلاه تلميذان-غير مدركين أنه هو- و هما يتحدثان بطريقهم الى عمواس وعندما أدركا من الذي يتحدث اليهما، اختفى عنهما، فرجعا الى القدس ليخبرا التلاميذ(لوقا 24 :13-34) . في المساء وقف يسوع بنفسه في وسط التلاميذ فيما هم مجتمعين وأخبرهم بأن يستعدوا فهناك مزيداً من الأمور سوف تحدث (لوقا 24 :36-48) .الآن يمكنك  أن تقول "يا له من يوم!".

اذا مررت يوماً بحدث عظيم في حياتك ، صادم بشكل سلبي أو مبهر بشكل ايجابي، فإنك لن تقدر أن تستوعب هول ما حدث إلا بعد مرور فترة من الزمن ومن الممكن أن تبدأ بفهم تأثير الحدث من اليوم التالي. في حالة التلاميذ، قد كان يوم الجمعة صادماً وموجعاً، أما السبت فقد كان محبِطاً ، والأحد مفرحاً ومبهجاً، فمن الطبيعي أن  يكون حالهم اليوم التالي للفصح متخبطاً، وغير متزن عاطفياً. 

لا يمكنني أن أتخيل مشاعرهم وأفكارهم والتي بدأت باستيعاب فكرة أن يسوع حي، فكل ما رجوه وتأملوا به اعتقدوا بأنه كان، لفترة، عبثاً (لوقا 24 :21) الآن فقط  أُثبت عكسه بقدرة الله الفائقة في القيامة. أضف إلى ذلك إدراكهم بأنهم لم يفهموا حقيقةً ما الذي كان يسوع يقصده حين أخبرهم عن قيامته بعد الموت(يوحنا 20 :9). من المؤكد أنهم كانوا يتأرجحون بين شعور الابتهاج والاحراج. وسريعا بعد تعافيهم من زخم أحداث ذلك اليوم، بدؤوا أخيراً باستيعاب حقيقة قيامة المسيح وتداعيات هذا الحدث العظيم على حيواتهم . فإذا كانت صرخة الجمعة "لماذا؟" و أنين إحباط السبت "ماذا الآن؟" وتهليلة الأحد "لقد قامّ" فإن الاثنين هو استغراق مفعم بالأمل  ب " اذاً الآن ماذا الآن؟" . 

في الأيام التي تلت الفصح تكَشّفت الكثير من الأمور . لقد قابل يسوع التلاميذ ليزيل شكوك توما (يوحنا 20 :24-29)، و ليرسلهم للعالم (مرقس 16 :15)، ليشهدوا صعوده للسماء (أعمال الرسل 1: 6-11)، وليستقبلوا حلول  الروح القدس المعزي عليهم (أعمال الرسل 2 :1-3). ولكن لم يكن أي من ذلك قد حدث بأول يوم بعد الفصح، بل كانوا جالسين في حيرة مما قد شهدوا واختبروا وأيضاً في فهم جديد وعميق للكلمة التي أعلن يسوع عنها اليهم .

والان بعد 2000 عام،انتهينا من الاحتفال بقيامة يسوع من الأموات وانتصاره على الخطيئة والموت. ولدينا نعمة معرفة أن القيامة وما تلاها من أحداث قد تمت، ولكن أريد أن أشجعك وأشجع نفسي بأن نضع أنفسنا مكان التلاميذ بذلك اليوم ونتأمل فعلياً بذهن حاضر للكلمة وبثقل مشوق لما عناه وما زال يعنيه يوم الأحد لهذا اليوم.

لنتأمل بتعجب -للحظات- خطة الله وكشفه المقصود لها خلال التاريخ، من أول وعد قدمه الله لآدم وحواء (تكوين 3 :15) الى أن أعلن عن البشارة للرعاة قرب بيت لحم (لوقا 2 :8-14). ولنبتهج بمعرفتنا بأن هذه القصة الحقيقية التي أرادها الله لنا مستمرة من الماضي الى الحاضر سوف تمتد للمستقبل أيضاً. 

حياة يسوع وموته وقيامته لم تكن نهاية القصة، بل كانت نقطة التحول للتاريخ البشري، الله سيكمل كتابة قصته واعلانه عن ذاته لنا من خلال كلمته ومن خلال الروح القدس ليكمل عمله فينا. اذاً اليوم، بعد الفصح، لقد مررنا بالحزن وبالصمت وأخيراً بالفرح، دعونا نتعمق بالتفكير الذي يقود للعمل. أن نتعمق بفكرة أن رواية الله شاملة للعالم. بالنعمة لدينا الفرصة أن نكون جزءاً منها و بحقيقة أن المسيح حي الآن في هذه اللحظة وبأن هذه الحقيقة لديها انعكاسات على حياتنا نحن شخصياً.

كيف لنا الآن أن نعيش في ضوء القيامة؟ يمكنني الإجابة عن هذا السؤال ولكن سأترك السؤال مفتوحاً لتفكر به ملياً.  لمساعدتك على البحث عن الإجابة سأعطيك بعض النقاط  للتفكير بها. 

كيف أثرت قيامة يسوع على علاقتك بالله ؟ وكيف أثرت على علاقتك بالأشخاص الآخرين؟ كيف أثرت على طريقة تواصلك بالله؟ ما معنى القيامة بالنسبة للخوف؟ للحزن؟ للمواظبة؟ للثقة؟ للجرأة؟ للتعاطف؟ وللفرح؟ وبينما أنت تفكر بهذه الأسئلة، لا تتوان عن ترك تعليق بالأسفل عما يدور بذهنك إما بإدراك منعش أو بتذكير مفيد.

يسوع قام، هو ليس حدث من الماضي بل هو حي الآن يدعوك أن تعيش الحياة لمجده. أُصلي أن تدخل بعمق لهذه الحياة وأن تستوعب فعلاً عمق انعكاسات قيامة المسيح على حياتك، لأنه كما تبين لنا، الحياة بعد الفصح هي الأفضل.

كتب من قبل أوليفيا باشا. ترجم من قبل ميس سلفيتي. 

هذا المنشور تم نشره أولا في 2020. لرؤية النسخة الإنجليزية الأصلية إضغط هنا.

This post was first published in 2020. To see the original English version, click here.

Anneliese Billings :المصدر

سمح بالنشر

Fickle Faith, Gracious God

Yesterday, churches in the West celebrated Palm Sunday, while Eastern churches are preparing to celebrate this coming Sunday. Regardless of which day it is celebrated, the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is striking for its stark contrast with the succeeding events. It has always been astounding to me how the same people who adoringly declared, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” could just a few days later venomously demand, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” (John 12:13; 19:15, ESV)

We know most of the Jewish religious leaders were never enamored with Jesus, so their desire for His death is no surprise as we read the biblical account. But the crowds that had followed Jesus are another matter. They had appeared to have faith in Him, to at the very least be pleased with His actions and amazed by the miracles He performed, recognizing that He had an uncommon authority. The miracles drew people in, and as John tells us, the crowds in Jerusalem laying palm branches beneath Jesus’ feet were gathering to praise Him because they had heard how He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 12:17-18).

Such a great act was sure to inspire excitement and awe, and it is no wonder that the people called out blessings on Jesus as He passed by. What is a wonder, though, is how their seemingly convinced declarations of Jesus as King, the Son of David, and the one who comes in the name of Lord (Matthew 21:9, Luke 19:38, John 12:13) could so quickly die out, not fizzling into silence but morphing into an ugly roar of just the opposite. How could people move from adoration to betrayal so quickly?

When we look in the Old Testament, we see this behavior was not so new after all. Take Aaron, for instance. Appointed by God as Moses’ mouthpiece and right-hand-man in leading the entire Israelite people out of Egypt, he witnessed the miracles of the plagues and the Red Sea’s parting and stood before the people alongside Moses as a fellow representative of God Himself. And yet what did he do? He built a literal idol and told the people to worship it when they got impatient for Moses’ return from his meeting with God on the mountain (Exodus 32). What in the world.

And Gideon, the unassuming man chosen by God to deliver the Israelites from their Midianite oppressors, in the same breath as deferring to God’s leadership rather than taking power for himself, asked the people to give him gold earrings so he could make an ephod that the people then worshiped (Judges 8:22-27). Again—what in the world? Did we learn nothing from Aaron?

With these two examples of faith that strayed, we see the fickleness of the human heart. And it is this fickleness that we see on display again in the New Testament with the crowds that followed Jesus, crowds who had rejoiced at His coming yet were so easily swayed by the chief priests to demand His execution (see Mark 15:11-15). But it was not only the random crowds that displayed such fickleness.

Even Peter, one of Jesus’ closest followers, who had so confidently asserted that he would go so far as to die with Jesus, denied Him three times mere hours after making such a promise. Yet even in the face of Peter’s fear and fickle faith, Jesus was gracious to Him, giving him assurance even before he strayed into sin that he would be restored and that he had an important purpose in the Kingdom of God (Luke 22:31-34, 54-62). He would go on to be one of the strongest leaders in the early Church and to contribute to the very Word of God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Similarly, Aaron, rather than being cast off by God for his betrayal, was forgiven and installed as the first High Priest, the only one permitted to enter the Holy of Holies and stand in the manifest presence of God. And Gideon, despite encouraging communal idolatry even as Aaron had, went on to be listed among the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11. For Peter, Aaron, Gideon, and so many others in the Bible, their straying was not the end of their story.

We don’t know the identities of all the members of the crowd who went from praising to condemning Jesus, but it is not unreasonable to believe that some of them later became convicted of the truth by the Holy Spirit and repented, exchanging their fickle faith for a true and abiding one that praised Jesus for who He is and not just what He does. Although we don’t know the individual testimonies of most of the hundreds of believers in the early Church, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to think that some of them were among those who began to follow Jesus for shallow reasons, only wanting the physical things He could give them, and then turned their backs on Him at the Cross. Their wavering was not the end of their story.

We often look at cases like Saul/Paul and marvel at the grace of God in taking someone who had always been an avowed enemy of Jesus and turning him into a devoted follower, but it’s easy to forget that the grace of God is just as remarkable in taking someone with merely situational, conditional faith and giving them the anchored faith that saves or taking someone from shallow, wavering belief into the depths of solid faith. God’s mercy and grace are bigger than any fickleness we can display.

So as we reflect on Palm Sunday and the short-lived praise of the Jerusalem crowds, may we examine our own hearts, putting our faith under a microscope and realizing that we are no better than they. Recognizing the weakness of our flesh and our proneness to wander, may we earnestly pray with the man in Mark 9:24, “‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” And when we find our faith faltering or we stumble into sin, may we find encouragement in the marvelous grace of God that does not cast us away for our fickleness but rather draws us near, restores us, and strengthens us by His Spirit for His glory and our good.

PC: Cyndi Hackett. Used with permission.