Justice is the principle that will guide them and they are
to appoint those who will judge “with righteous judgment.” These judges are to know God’s law,
righteousness, and to apply it to disputes among the people. They are to do so, as we would say, without
fear or favor, justice knows no socio-economic rationale, it favors no one, it
simply is. Moses makes provision for
what he knows will come, a time when the people desire to have a king like all
other nations around them. Like the city
where they will worship, however, they must not choose a king for themselves,
that is the Lord’s prerogative. Warnings
are given to the king: don’t acquire too many horses, wives or too much
wealth. All these will lead them astray
and, what a surprise, Solomon did all these things and, in the end, it tore the
kingdom apart permanently. In that last
paragraph, we see that there was one positive thing the king was to do, write
for himself, copy out, the law and that copy had to be certified by the priests
as true and accurate, leaving out nothing, and read, study and apply it in his
life all the days of his life. That
would certainly make the king a subject of the King.
After reading that first passage it is a bit strange to hear
Jesus tell this parable about a judge who neither fears God nor respects man
but He isn’t asking anyone to imagine such a judge, it is simply taken for
granted that there are such judges in the land.
That would certainly be an abomination to the Lord, a violation of the
law all by itself. This judge has no
respect for the God in whose image he is created or for others created in that
same image. In any case, however, he
wants to clear his docket of this pestilent, persistent widow so determines to
give her justice. The contrast between
this unrighteous judge and the righteous Judge of all in matters of justice is
clear. His promise is that God will give
justice to His elect, not in time, but speedily. That statement is followed by the question of
whether, when the Son of Man comes, He will find faith on earth. The question really is, will He find faith in
God or in something else.
Paul is using some psychological tactics here to motivate
the Corinthian church to give more, challenging them by holding up the example
of the churches in Macedonia, who are poorer, and their generosity in giving
“beyond their means.” What was the
motivation for giving sacrificially, an abundance of joy. Perhaps that is the problem among
evangelicals, we lack joy, we have simply become numb to the extraordinary
grace we have been shown, we take it for granted. Statistically, evangelicals give about 3.5%
of their income to charity, not just the church, charity. Paul encourages the Corinthians to show their
own appreciation of what Jesus has done, the Gospel, in tangible ways, giving
to the relief of other brothers and sisters in Christ. Our giving has a way of revealing our
hearts. Do we truly see these others as
brothers and sisters and do we see what we have as gift?
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