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Objectivity
Justice and Forgiveness To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.—Proverbs 21:3 From where does justice come? The word itself means “to do justly; to do what is fair to all concerned.” Yet who decides what is just and fair? Typically a governing body of a region makes laws that are effective within its physical boundaries, and these laws specify punishment and restitution based on the type and severity of the violation. These governing bodies also take responsibility for determining the guilt of those accused of breaking a law. This is typically done by holding a trial in which evidence of the crime is presented. If the person is found guilty during the judgment process, the governing body takes responsibility for determining and executing judgment. Perhaps it might be as simple as paying a fine. If the crime is more severe, incarceration might be the punishment. People obey the law to avoid punishment and receive protection from those governing bodies. God’s Justice System Our heavenly Father set up a justice system for the region occupied by his original human creation. His law was simple: Obey and live. More specifically: “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16,17). The penalty for disobedience was equally simple: Death. As long as Adam and Eve obeyed this law of obedience, God would protect them and provide for their every need. Eventually they disobeyed and God executed judgment. They were evicted from the garden and the dying process began. They also lost intimate communion with their heavenly Father. Years later God established a new justice system with an entire nation, the Israelites. They agreed to keep his laws (Exodus 19:1-8). Through Moses, God provided the foundation of this new justice system to them: the Ten Commandments. These commandments were simple. God also specified penalties for disobeying his law; in many cases disobedience required the death of an animal to atone for the infraction. Although the ten commandments were easy to understand, the details of the law God gave to Israel is purported by Maimonides, the Jewish teacher, to contain over six hundred different commandments. The priests were responsible for handling the sacrifices offered by any who broke the Law. However, the Scriptures say the blood of those animals was not sufficient to take away the sins of the people (Hebrews 10:4). The Jewish nation as a whole gradually strayed far from its covenant with God and obedience to its commandments. After many years went by, God set up a justice system with another group: those called to be Christians. He sent his son Jesus to live as a man and be offered as a sacrifice for all mankind. This new justice system was even simpler than the ten commandments because its foundation consisted of just two commandments: loving the heavenly Father, and loving your neighbor. Jesus told his followers that these two commandments were actually the culmination of the spirit of the entire Jewish Law as well as the words of all of the prophets (Matthew 22:40). Later Jesus added a third commandment, which was for his followers: love one another as he had loved them (John 13:34). The foundation of Jesus’ justice system was love. While these three commandments were plainly understood, there were details which were explained more fully. While previous laws had required obedience to avoid punishment, this system had one major difference regarding transgressions: instead of punishment for disobedience, Jesus taught his followers to offer mercy and forgiveness. This differed from the previous laws. Instead of “an eye for an eye,” they were taught to lovingly “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:38,39). Instead of insisting on restitution from someone who had taken their shirt, his followers were taught to lovingly also give them their coat (Matthew 5:40). Jesus thus taught his followers to answer evil and hatred with love. The result of love was forgiveness and mercy. The Unforgiving Servant Although Jesus’ disciples understood the idea of forgiveness toward their trespassers, Peter asked Jesus a pertinent question: How many times must he forgive someone for repeated offenses (see Matthew 18:21). As a starting point, Peter wondered if seven times was sufficient. Jesus said the number was “seventy times seven” which meant “unlimited” (verse 22). Then he told a parable to explain the principle of unlimited forgiveness (see Matthew 18:23-35). The parable concerns a servant who owed a king 10,000 talents. Although this may not seem like a huge number today, in Jesus’ day one talent was equivalent to fifteen-to-twenty years’ of wages. It would have been impossible for the servant to repay his debt. When the servant was unable to pay, the king ordered every valuable thing the servant owned to be sold, including the servant’s wife and children. The money from the sale of the assets would be given to the king to discharge the debt. This judgment was fair. The servant was obligated to repay the debt, and one of the legal options available was to sell the servant’s assets. Even today this technique is sometimes used to discharge debts. When confronted with the certainty that he was about to lose everything, the servant fell down before the king and worshipped him, pleaded for mercy and time to repay the debt. The king was moved with compassion, but instead of granting the servant’s request for more time, the king showed mercy and forgave the entire debt. This was truly amazing. How should that servant have reacted when that huge burden was lifted? He should have gone around hugging everyone with joy in his heart, showing love and mercy to all with whom he came in contact, and praising the awesomeness of his king. However, he did no such thing. Instead, the servant went to one who owed him money and demanded immediate payment of the full amount: one hundred denarii, or about three months’ wages. Unlike the servant’s debt to the king, this debt could likely be repaid through a reasonable payment plan. Instead, the unmerciful servant had the person thrown into jail. The servant was within his rights under the justice system. It was a valid debt and the debtor was obligated to repay. The debtor could legally be jailed until the debt was paid off, perhaps by friends or family. However, the point of Jesus’ parable was not legality, but mercy. The huge debt which had been forgiven the servant should have changed his attitude and behavior. He should have become merciful to those in his debt. Mercy was given; mercy was expected. Each of us is similar to the servant in the parable who owed 10,000 talents because we owe our heavenly Father a debt we can never repay. God’s justice demands the death of sinners, complete and eternal death, and we fall under that condemnation (Romans 5:12). If God’s judgment continued, the entire human race would cease to exist. However, God gave his son so we could be forgiven this huge debt. We are expected to follow God’s example by forgiving the petty debts of others. This is also the basis of our prayers to God (Matthew 6:12). It is vitally important for us to develop the quality of mercy given in Jesus’ illustration. We must develop God-like character. We are not to practice mercy merely to obtain it ourselves, but we are to love mercy because it is part of God’s character (Micah 6:8). If we do not learn and show mercy now, we will not be equipped or qualified to dispense it in Christ’s kingdom as part of the great Melchizedek priesthood. Developing and practicing mercy today is thus essential for the Christian. The basis for our judgment and justice should be the three commandments: loving God, loving our neighbor, and loving our brethren. There is no fear of punishment if we do not forgive others. However, God will not forgive us if we do not forgive others (Matthew 6:15). We owe our heavenly Father everything. He wipes out our debt and brings us an appreciation of his love by allowing us to experience the injustices of the world. As an ambassador for Christ, let us proclaim the joy of the coming kingdom in which man’s sins will be forgiven, all injustice will be eliminated, justice will be administered with mercy, and the commandments of love will reign supreme. Let us practice mercy now and thus show our appreciation of our heavenly Father’s love. Let us view those who owe us not as they are today but as they will be when they are perfected through the mercy of God’s kingdom. |