Kingdom of God & Justice #6: Justice in the NT

This is session 6 and the final lesson in a study that Rob lead on understanding the Kingdom of God, the mission of God's people, and Justice. In this study, we look at the issue of Justice in the NT. What is God's mission? In order for the people of God to be faithful, we must understand what God's mission is. Then we must ask: What is Justice? And what is the relationship between Justice and the Kingdom of God? And what does it mean for you and me? Here is the outline that Rob was teaching from 

 

The kingdom of God comes through the Cross

The cross of Christ is the epitome of love for which we are called to emulate. The cross was also the moment of Jesus’ coronation. There is little question that the gospels want us to view the crucifixion of Jesus as the moment of His becoming King.

 

We begin by noting that the charge against Jesus for which He was crucified was that He was “the king of the Jews” (Matt 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19). The dialogue between Jesus and Pilate and the account of the crucifixion in the Gospel of John makes it clear that Jesus was crucified for claiming to be the king (see: John 18:36-19:22). Before the cross, they dressed Him in purple, clearly intending to mock Him for claiming to be the king (Mark 15:17; John 19:2). And they placed a crown of thorns on His head (Matt 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2).

 

Jesus established the kingdom of God in His death. It was through His death and resurrection that Jesus defeated the kingdoms of the world.

 

Jesus had to defeat death in order to establish the kingdom of God. After all, death exemplifies the kingdoms of the world. Thus, Paul claims: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:55-57).

 

If the kingdom of God is love, and, if the greatest demonstration of love is to lay down one’s life for the other, then it only stands to reason that we affirm that Jesus established His kingdom on the cross.

 

Jesus calls His people to be kings/queens

There remains only one more significant point to add: Namely, if Jesus told His disciples that He was making them kings: “just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you” (Luke 22:29); and, if the people are also called by the Father to be kings and queens[1] in His kingdom (Rev 1:5; 5:10), after all we are coheirs with Jesus (Rom 8:17); and, if that kingdom is Christ’s kingdom (which we assume that it is since we will sit on the same throne as Christ: Rev 3:21); then does it not stand to reason that we too are crowned the same way that He was? That is, by way of the cross.

 

That this is the case is affirmed by Jesus in Rev 3:21: “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” We too are crowned as kings and queens and will sit on His throne when we overcome[2] the same way that He did.

 

How is it that Jesus overcame? The way in which Jesus overcame is through death: “one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain” (Rev 5:5-6). The book of Revelation is clear: Jesus is the Lion (the king), but He became such by being the Lamb that was slain.

 

When Jesus says to “follow me” He means that we too are to lay down our lives for the sake of the nations just like He did.

 

What does this mean?

This means that the kingdom of God, which has begun in Christ and is carried forth by His church, was established on justice. That is what the cross was. It was Christ establishing a kingdom of righteousness (justice) by sacrificially dying. When Jesus says, “follow me,” He means that we are to lay down our lives for the sake of the nations.

 

Justice, or in NT terms, love applied, is the pillar on which the kingdom was established. Justice, or love applied, is the fundamental ethic of God’s people.

 

Conclusion

Righteousness and justice in the NT are absorbed into Jesus’ ethic of love. For Jesus, love looks like what righteousness and justice were intended to be. It looks like the person who is willing to disadvantage themselves for the sake of the other. Jesus takes this principle and fulfills it.

 

When it comes to love, Jesus intensifies it in two ways. First, He extends it from God to one’s neighbor and from one’s neighbor to one’s enemies. Secondly, for Jesus, a willingness to disadvantage oneself for the sake of the other meant that one was willing to die for one’s enemies.

 

It is essential to grasp that the nature of the Christian life is to be characterized by a love for one’s enemies and that this love is epitomized by a willingness to lay down one’s life for the other, just as Christ did!  

 

What does this mean for Christians when it comes to the issues of justice? It means that too often we have been approaching the issues as though they were only matters of right and wrong. For Jesus, justice is not a topic to be debated, but an ethic to be lived.

Read my blog on the Jesus and the poor

 

Understanding the nature of the Kingdom of God/Justice in the NT

John 13:35 ___________________ is the essential feature of the kingdom of God

John 15:13 Love ____________________________ for the other

• Cross was/is a central feature of the kingdom of God
• Mark 8:27-34

 

Mark 6:38 Love includes______________________: economic

Mark 6:35 Love those who are poor and marginalized is what _____________________

 

Jesus’ miracles were signs of the kingdom of God

• A prelude of what is to come (John 11)
• Focused on social and economic restoration (Luke 7)

Deut 15:1-11

• Poor you will always have

Acts 4:32-37

• Acts 4:34: Deut 15:4

 

[1] There is no need not to be gender inclusive here since clearly men and women are crowned and authorized to rule in the kingdom of God.

[2] The Greek word nikao (“overcome”) may be translated as “conquer” also. In the book of Revelation The NAS translates nikao with some form of “overcome” throughout Revelation with only the following exceptions: 6:2 “conquering” and “to conquer”; and, 15:2 “victorious.” The NIV translates nikao as “overcome” less consistently: exceptions include, 5:5 “triumphed”; 6:2 “conqueror” and “bent on conquest”; 11:7 “overpower”; 13:7 “to conquer”; 15:2 “victorious”; and 17:4 “conquer.” The ESV is the most consistent. It uses some form of the word “conquer” throughout the book of Revelation. See chapter 3 of my Follow the Lamb.

 

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