Justice
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| Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash |
In the first eleven verses of Matthew 5, Jesus lays out some startlingly countercultural perspectives on life and godliness. First, he suggests the poor will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven (vs 3). In verse five Jesus challenges the concept of domination by promising the earth to those who are humble. Verse six promises satisfaction for those who long for righteousness. Those who are mocked, persecuted, or lied about should consider it a sign of God’s blessing (vs 10).
The concepts of the Beatitudes can be very challenging. When people thank God for His blessings, rarely (in my experience) has the context included mocking, persecution, or being lied about. It seems safe to say that such experiences could easily be seen as proof of God’s disapproval rather than evidence of His blessing. Persecution is something to be avoided at all costs, though the perception of persecution seems to be a badge of honor for some who feel their rights are being violated. All in all, the Beatitudes are the essence of counter-cultural. One verse in particular stands out, though, in light of the ongoing contention and confusion over justice, and that is verse six. In the King James, it reads, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6, KJV).
Most translations use the word “righteousness” to describe what satisfaction can come for those who hunger and thirst after it. Generally speaking, righteousness can be understood as piety or “right living.” The word used in Matthew 5:6, however, can also be translated “justice.” Some of the time, it is used in the sense of what we typically consider justice, which is really more retributive or giving someone what we think they deserve based on their actions. An extreme case would be sentencing someone to die for a particular crime. A less extreme case would be sentencing someone to spend a certain amount of time in prison, or perhaps taking privileges (like voting or gun ownership) away. That is not the kind of justice being described in this verse.
Rather than describing consequences for socially unacceptable behavior, what Matthew was talking about in this context was, based on the Strong’s word used in verse six, more focused on a pattern of living or a lifestyle. When thought of in this way, righteousness or justice takes on a completely different image. Rather than being about piety or someone dealing with the consequences of their (bad) choices, it is more about (to borrow from Tim Keller in his book Generous Justice) “everyone… living in right relationship to everyone else” (p. 10).
Imagine a world where everyone lived in right relationship to everyone else… where people did not take anything that belonged to anyone else, including life; where people spoke to each other with courtesy and respect, even when they disagreed; where people valued those around them based on their identity as God’s image bearers and not based on their appearance (skin color, hair color, eye color, age, weight, style of, or absence of clothing) or their performance (including meeting cultural expectations related to gender identity, sexual orientation, marriage partners, occupation, lack of occupation, success at work, financial abundance, etc.)… what kind of a world would that be?
Before answering that question, I want to respond to some of the objections I know will be raised. What about the Bible’s clear teaching on lifestyle choices (that sex is only supposed to happen in the context of marriage and marriage is supposed to be between one man and one woman for a lifetime), and gender identity (when God identified His first two image bearers, He only identified two genders)? Good questions. But, for the sake of this conversation, can we set those aside for a bit and just imagine what kind of world it would be if everyone lived in right relationship with everyone else. Is that the kind of world you would want to live in? The simple and obvious answer is yes. It is fair to say that everyone would want to live in a world like that. It is even fair to say that John Rawls, with his “veil of ignorance,” was advocating for a world like this.
Now back to the common objections that are raised when having a discussion about justice, righteousness, and human value. While the Bible is clear that sex is supposed to happen in the context of marriage, and that marriage is supposed to be between one man and one woman for a lifetime, does making different choices change someone’s value? If we believe that human value comes from our identity (shared by Christians and non-Christians alike) as God’s image bearers, does value change based on behavior? The unequivocal answer is no. It does not.
Please understand that recognizing value and longing for a day when people will be treated in light of their true identity does not mean excusing sin. It simply means that one sin (unrighteousness or not living in right relationship with others) is not justified by another sin (active or passive disobedience). Jesus did not excuse sin. Jesus did not tolerate sin, most clearly evidenced by how He cleared out the temple (Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-46; John 2:13-22) and how He spoke to or about the Scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23).
In His conversation with the woman at the well (John 4) Jesus specifically confronted sin. Yet, the conversation was so redemptive that the woman went back to her village as an evangelist.
The woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:34-48) is another beautiful example. By touching Jesus, this woman made Him ceremonially unclean. When He asked who touched him, both Mark and Luke record that this woman as trembling. That is a serious amount of fear! Yet, Jesus responded with grace and compassion. Instead of correcting her for making Him unclean, Jesus recognized her faith; nothing else mattered. I think it is far too easy to dismiss the significance of what Jesus did because we don’t generally understand either First Century Jewish culture or Middle Eastern culture – but think about how the Taliban treats women who fail to comply with their cultural expectations? Even a cursory glance at current headlines will reveal the harsh conditions for women in Afghanistan today; the First Century was little different.
Back to the original Beatitude… so what? What difference does it make if the word normally recognized as “righteousness” can mean something other than religious piety? So what if righteousness (according to Tim Keller) is everyone living in right relationship with everyone else? So what? Does it really change anything about how Christians are supposed to live? Does it really affect anything of significance? Let’s go back to the objections mentioned earlier in this blog… what if, by treating people whose behavior didn’t meet our cultural or religious expectations with gentleness, respect, and grace, it created space for the Holy Spirit to do the work the Holy Spirit does (namely convict of sin, John 16:8-11) and helped people open their hearts to Jesus? That is exactly what happened with Rosaria Butterfield. Her story, and the actions of the couple who simply loved her, are very instructive for engaging with our culture today.
The crazy thing about Butterfield’s story, and the example of the pastor and his wife who loved her so well, is that research supports that approach as effective. Arguably, the most effective way to “evangelize” in our rapidly changing and “dechristianizing” culture is not using traditional evangelical strategies like preaching on street corners, going through a tract, or even hosting a revival/crusade/rally/event. Rather than seeing those outside our Christian affinity group as projects to be converted, the most effective way to “evangelize” in our culture is to focus on building authentic relationships with real people (probably people we already know) and having real conversations. One last thought on that topic - Jesus didn’t see the woman at the well as a project. He recognized her value beyond her brokenness, and he cared more about who she was than what she’d done. Said another way, Jesus recognized this woman as fully human and treated her in light of that reality.
So how does this relate to Matthew 5:6 and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness? Quite simply, I think that hungering and thirsting after righteousness, or justice (depending on how you look at it), is (ultimately) connected to fulfilling the Great Commission. Let me explain: Jesus’ last instructions were to teach people what He taught His disciples, and He taught His disciples how to love God with their everything as well as to love their neighbors as themselves. I argue that both loving God and loving others is dependent not on learning a particular strategy or behavior, but rather learning to walk in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.
So how does one learn to walk in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit? It is a little more complex than can be explained in this blog post. It is not, however, so complicated that you can’t begin to understand it with a simple conversation. This link can get that conversation started. I challenge you, this week, to follow the link and read more about how to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, work your way through the “Holy Spirit Resource Kit,” including the two-week Thirsty devo (found here).
If you want to connect on this (or other topics), please email me at marchauna.rodgers@cru.org.
