It’s not fair!’ The wounded cry of a child who feels cheated testifies to our universal concern for justice. There is nothing so humiliating, dehumanising and disempowering than being denied fair treatment.
Justice is a major theme throughout Scripture, and it turns out to be rooted both in the character of God, and the way he created humanity. Justice flows from God’s heart and character. As true and good, God seeks to make the object of his holy love whole. This is what motivates God throughout the Old and New Testaments in his judgments on sin and injustice. (Paul Louis Metzger)
JUST CREATION
In contrast to other accounts of creation, the narratives in Genesis claim that God made all people – male and female, king and commoner, slave and free – in his ‘image and likeness’. There is considerable debate about what ‘the image of God’ signifies, but it is striking that all humanity bears it. This then means that God treats all humanity the same; he ‘causes the sun to shine on the evil and the good’ (Matthew 5:45). God judges impartially (1 Peter 1:17) and does not show favouritism (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9) – God blesses all with his favour. This means that his chosen people Israel cannot claim any superiority to the nations around them; they are ‘chosen’ not because they are better than others, but because they have been given a particular responsibility to show God’s grace to the world (Deuteronomy 7:7).
JUST COMMUNITY
Although justice is not mentioned often in the Torah, it is a consistent note underpinning the exercise of law in the community. This calls for personal courage in commitment to justice (Exodus 23:2), but also demands fairness in the normal transactions of life (Leviticus 19:36). And this means that the community must have a particular concern for the vulnerable, the ones most likely to miss out on justice:
‘“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”’ [Deuteronomy 27:19].
