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.