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By Jeremy | November 6, 2007
Jesus the Justice Advocate may not be standard Sunday school fare, yet He began his ministry by declaring his heart for justice in a concrete mission statement to preach good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, release for the oppressed, and the year of the Lord’s favor. (Lk 4:18-18)
Jesus loves justice so much that he built it into his response to the most fundamental evangelical question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?†Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself.
“Do this,†he finished, “and you will live.†(Lk 10:25-28)
Coming from Jesus, those six little words burst with meaning. The unending life he offers brings joy and peace in abundance, and its citizenship rests in his Kingdom. And “this†life grows in proportion to three  not two  commands.
Love God.
Love your neighbors.
And love yourself enough to receive justice – the price he paid for sin – in your own life.
Jesus then tells a story about busy pastors (the priest) and worship leaders (the Levite) who pretend not to see injustice, leaving social outcasts (the Samaritan) to right the wrongs that discard innocent victims to rot in ditches.
Jesus’ hero, reviled for his biracial ancestry, mirrors God’s Kingdom love. Compassion compelled his initial response, but justice required him to overcome the absence of adequate remedies for the man’s need. The Samaritan not only sat with him in the ditch, gave him water, and bandaged his wounds (a compassionate response), but also transported him to an inn, nursed him overnight, and prepaid his medical expenses (a just response).
Compassion, as commonly practiced today, would have served the man but stopped short of healing him. But Jesus justice righted the wrongs that left him in the ditch by healing him, reconciling him, and restoring him to wholeness.
“Go and do likewise,†Jesus finished. Learn to love like this Samaritan loved. Then you’ll truly live.
________________
+ More like this in two chapters I wrote for
Deep Justice in a Broken World
(Youth Specialties/Zondervan, January 2008). Preorder your copy today.
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