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

Why does justice matter?

Justice matters to us first because it matters to God. In the Scriptures, there are over 1,000 teachings on the topic of justice that often are ignored by people in the Christian faith. Justice in the kingdom of Jesus means the King will ensure you are respected and treated with dignity and fairness, and he will prevent or reverse any injustice.

Jesus told a story about a servant who owed a great debt to illustrate justice as part of the culture of the kingdom. The servant owed 10,000 talents, an amount impossible to repay as a day laborer. So the master was willing to work things out with him and told the servant to sell himself, his wife and his children into slavery as well as sell all he had. This would satisfy the debt.

After hearing this dreadful news, the servant fell to his knees and pleaded, “Be patient with me and I will pay back everything" (Matthew 18:26 NIV). This offer was absurd. He would have to work 72 hours a week for 200,000 years with day-laborer wages to make enough money to pay off the debt. The master had pity on the servant, cancelled the debt and let him go.

The servant left the master’s dwelling and went out into the streets and ran into one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii, which would be about $11,000 today. While this amount is steep, it would be possible to repay this amount at a cost of one-fourth of a servant’s income in a year.

As soon as the servant who had just been forgiven saw his fellow servant, he grabbed him by the neck and demanded that he pay him what he owed him.

The fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me, and I will pay it back" (Matthew 18:29 NIV). But the servant who had been forgiven refused. Instead, he had his fellow servant thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

When the master heard what happened, he said to his servant, “I canceled all the debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” (Matthew 18:33 NIV) In anger, he turned the servant over to the jailer to be tortured until he could repay the debt.

Jesus ends the story by saying, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart" (Matthew 18:35 NIV). This story is about how the kingdom works regarding justice and forgiveness. It teaches us we must forgive those who harm us, or we will not be forgiven for the way we have mistreated others.

Justice in the kingdom of Jesus not only relates to our relationship to the King, but it also impacts our relationships with others, like our family members, our friends, neighbors and coworkers.

Question for Reflection:

• Where do you find injustice in your community or circle of influence?