Justice is a hard thing to demand.
I mean, how do I have the right to justice when I’m wrong too? Justice is defined as: The quality of being just; fairness. The principle of moral rightness; equity. Conformity to moral rightness in action or attitude; righteousness. I can be righteous … for an hour, a half day, 72 hours maybe. It doesn’t take long for me to end my righteous streak — and that’s the problem.
One of the greatest examples of hypocrisy is for someone to cause harm from being careless. Especially if you catch me on one of my righteous days, I can really stir up trouble and make you feel two inches tall by rebuking your behavior and telling you how wrong you are. I can do this without ever thinking about my unrighteousness.
I’m reminded of the two thieves that were literally hanging with Jesus. The thief on the one side of the savior began to mock him like he heard the crowd do. He said: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
Once we reach the other side of Jesus, we get a far different disposition. The thief on the other side of Jesus said, “Don’t you fear God … since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
I want to stay on the other side of Jesus. I want to remember who I am and where I stand before him. I am a sinner saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. This salvation is impossible for me to obtain, but it has been gifted to me by the father that I may not brag. I’ve been made over and thank God that JUSTICE has been replaced in my vocabulary with GRACE.
And you only reach this point when you cross over to the other side of Jesus.
In Matthew and Mark’s account we find where BOTH criminals hurled insults at Christ. However, in Luke’s account we find where one of the criminals had a change of heart, but what happened??? In Luke’s account it says that Christ prays “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” It was only AFTER Jesus spoke these words did the one criminal have a change of heart….He heard the WORD!”
You are correct, but I hope you didn’t miss the point of the blog… 🙂