Hope Now: 27 Days to Peace, Healing, and Justiceনমুনা

Hope and justice

Peace and healing are evident in Luke 10:1-9, but justice isn’t so evident in that passage. Justice is part of what the King provides in his kingdom for all the King’s subjects. He provides justice and makes things just for each of us. The verse that comes to mind is Matthew 6:33.

Jesus tells us to seek, go after, and pursue the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and the promise is that everything else we hope for, long for, and need will be added to us. It’s a matter of priority setting. Seek the kingdom first. But the word justice doesn’t appear in this verse.

So where does it come from? How does one seek the justice of God while also seeking the kingdom of God? What’s the relationship between the kingdom and God’s justice? Can you seek his kingdom and not his justice? Must we seek both his kingdom and his justice to realize that all these things will be added to us?

My Spanish Bible sheds light on the interpretation of this verse. In Spanish, Matthew 6:33 says, “Busquen primeramente el reino de Dios y su justicia.” Literally, this verse in Spanish says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice.”

The New Testament Greek word translated righteousness isdikaiosuné. However, the same word for righteousness in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew text) is most often translated as justice. A more accurate translation of Matthew 6:33 would be, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be added to you.”

Jesus, the Lord and King, loves justice. In fact, one might argue in this context that the atonement of Jesus can be thought of as the greatest intervention of God’s justice in history. His intervention on our behalf was characterized by restorative and retributive justice. The agenda of the kingdom is to restore justice and peace.

Question for Reflection:

• What is it about justice that makes hope a possibility?