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

Justice as a priority

There are four words used in the Bible for the concept of justice (two in Hebrew and two in Greek), appearing 1,060 times. One of the Hebrew words is tsedaqah, meaning delivering community-restoring justice. Communities I have visited in the U.S. and around the world need the delivery of justice for the community to be restored: the kind of justice that makes things right for the citizens, the families and the children of the community.

Peace, healing and justice are what we can expect when the kingdom comes near to these communities.

The second part of Matthew 6:33 is a promise, a reassurance, that if we seek the kingdom of God and his justice as a priority, everything we need will be added to us. The kingdom of God and his justice must become my personal priority.

What does this concept of seeking God’s justice as a priority mean for my personal ethics as a follower of Jesus? To process this concept adequately for our lives, we must consider questions about the concept of justice as it relates to hope, peace and healing.

What did justice mean in the first century? Why does justice matter? How does this concept of justice-seeking impact my ethics as a follower of Jesus? How do hope and justice connect in the context of the kingdom? How do hope, peace and healing relate to justice?

Question for Reflection:

• What would it be like to seek first the justice of God?