Law and Justice
Sermon on the Plain - Law and Justice
In his teaching Jesus is re-interpreting the law to take account of his intervention to bring about a new humanity being established in himself and freed from the problems caused by sin. He is building a society that is characterised by love, mercy, kindness and equity, without enmity and greed.
Daniel prophesies about two different types of society, one where humanity has animalistic traits living like beasts, and the other like the Son of Man. Beastly traits are about self-preservation, dog eat dog, survival of the fittest. To enable a constructive society there needs to be order, some rules, i.e. laws, instructions that people obey. God tried to instil this into the first humanity, setting a small restriction on Adam and what he should eat. When sin enters, humanity does what it wants. God then provides some teaching about society by introducing some laws for Israel to follow.
Laws are the enablers of justice and rights. When Israel became a society they were established with laws that gave them rights and a means for justice. For example, they had a right of freedom from slavery.
The basis of justice is 'an eye for an eye', 'a life for a life'. This still remains as the foundation for justice in modern society. If someone breaks the law, there is a penalty that aims to be equivalent to the seriousness of the crime. Life can become life imprisonment. The interpretation and type of penalty can be debated but the principle remains the same.
History shows that retribution usually results in an escalation. Three people are killed in retaliation for one, and so on. The law aims to prevent this open-ended enmity that arises from injustice, but is limited in its impact.
Laws have limitations. They restrain but do not prevent evil. People break laws and suffer the consequences. Victims have suffered even if justice follows. Laws that aim to provide security can result in isolation.
Laws are external restrictions on life, they have no life in themselves.
The restriction that God placed on Adam was to remain ignorant of the knowledge of good and evil. He wanted mankind to initially rely on His parenting. The knowledge of good and evil brings about the issue of ethics, a debate about what is right and wrong. We identify what we think are the right things to do and feel good if we manage to achieve them. We feel bad when we fail to live up to these ideals. God gets left out. This becomes self-determination and excludes any relationship with God.
There is danger with what is termed 'Christian ethics' that start with man's ideas of what is right and wrong and then tries to square these with Gods view. In Jesus’ time, the religious leaders did this to an extreme level, setting up their own system of religious independent living. They decided the details of how people should live and set these out as rules for life. Although supposedly in the name of God, He is outside all of this. This persists today throughout all religions including Christianity, where people representing (and using) the religion try to order our lives. They set out rules that can insist on minute details of how we should live and behave, through to terrible extremes such as murder, and wars being waged, in God’s name. God has nothing to do with, and opposes, and will ultimately judge, all of this.
Jesus does not debate ethics. When asked about what is right and wrong he doesn't give an answer one way or the other! Jesus does not debate what is right and wrong when repeatedly challenged about the law by the religious leaders. He doesn't live by the law of ethics, eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He lives by eating from the tree of life.
Jesus is establishing a whole new way of life. He is fulfilling the law so that in him, we can be free from it. If we are built on him, he changes our hearts. We then have a central internal drive, at the core of our being, to express humanity as God intends. This replaces an external set of rules that try to limit our negative impact on others.
Instead of requiring justice, it is about an over-riding desire to express what humanity can be like in Jesus. Jesus fulfils the law (in his death he died in our place, answering any call for justice) and gives us his Spirit so we live by his Spirit not law. The law, as expressed in the Old Testament, was always meant to be a temporary measure for a broken society to be kept in check until Jesus brought about a new way of life in himself.
Background
Luke chapter 6 verses 20 to 49 - 'The Sermon on the Plain' - And turning his gaze toward his disciples, he (Jesus) began to say, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracise you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure -pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return”. And he also spoke a parable to them: “A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."
Jesus is building a society that is characterised by love, mercy, kindness and equity, without enmity and greed (Luke chapter 6 verses 27 to 38).
Daniel (chapter 7) prophesies two different types of society, one where humanity has animalistic traits living like beasts and the other like the Son of Man.
To enable a constructive society there needs to be order, some rules, i.e. laws, instructions that people obey. God tried to instil this into the first humanity, setting a small restriction on Adam and what he should eat (Genesis chapter 2 verses 15,16).
When Israel became a society they were established with laws that gave them rights and a means for justice. For example, they had a right of freedom from slavery (Exodus chapter 21 verse 2).
The basis of justice is 'an eye for an eye', 'a life for a life' (Exodus chapter 21 verses 23 to 25, Leviticus chapter 24 verses 17 to 22, Deuteronomy chapter 19 verses 15 to 21).
Jesus does not debate what is right and wrong when repeatedly challenged about the law by the Pharisees (Luke chapter 5 verses 17 to chapter 6 verse 11).
Jesus is establishing a whole new way of life. He is fulfilling the law so that in him, we can be free from it. If we are built on him (Luke chapter 6 verses 46 to 49), he changes our hearts (verse 45).
Instead of requiring justice (verses 29,37), it is about an over-riding desire to express what humanity can be like in Jesus (verse 35). Jesus fulfils the law (in his death he died in our place, answering any call for justice) and gives us his Spirit so we live by his Spirit not law (Romans chapter 7 verses 4 to 6; 8 verses 1 to 4; 10 verse 4). The law as expressed in the Old Testament was always meant to be a temporary measure for a broken society to be kept in check until Jesus brought about a new way of life in himself (Galatians chapter 3 verses 19, 22 to 26; 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 1 to 8,18).