Heal Our Hearts
Injustice Series
“The world can impose any code of ethics or morals it wants, but in the end - man has a problem of the heart…”
“18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand.”
Explanation:
While the Gospel is certainly good news, it is uncanny how injustice is intimately entwined in the story itself. Here, an innocent man is given over to be crucified. When Pilate allows the crowd to choose whether to release a true criminal or crucify the innocent man - the crowd decisively opts to release the prisoner. In modern terms, this would be like trading a known terrorist for an innocent person. What’s more, Jesus was not only to be put to death - but put to death in the worst way. Crucifixion was Rome's method of maintaining order by making any would-be criminals so afraid that they would not commit any crime. Here, the innocent Jesus suffers the worst possible fate - a perfect picture of injustice.
Connection:
Nobody needs to be told life is unjust. From our earliest days, we all know that life is unfair and to some extent cannot be easily fixed. Philosophies and ideologies have arisen with promises to rid the world of the clutches of injustice, only to exact some of the most brutal atrocities known to history. The 20th century testifies to mankind's futility when it comes to attempting to fix all the world's problems. Communism and Nazism both killed millions while purporting to be humanity's solution to injustice. It almost all seems like a cosmic joke. Even when man attempts to fix injustice, he winds up inflicting even more injustice. It becomes a swirling cycle, with no way out.
As it turns out, despite the thoughts of governments and ideologies, one is hard-pressed to change human nature. The world can impose any code of ethics or morals it wants, but in the end - man has a problem of the heart. The problem is not that we have the wrong ideas about how to live or structure society. The problem is that we have forgotten our creator, that we have "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen" (Romans 1:25). Man, in a very real sense, needed a reboot. In Jesus Christ, mankind receives this new heart. Given over to be killed as our spotless Passover lamb, Jesus bore the burden of our sin and death. He killed death by himself dying and rising. Being joined to him by faith, we too will experience a resurrection - first in the heart through the spirit. This will come to full fruition where our bodies themselves will rise up out of the grave on the last day to a restored Eden - where injustice will no longer exist. This is our hope as Christian people.
Action:
Compose Yourself -
We can all recall Peter's response to the arrest of Jesus. In his compulsion to injustice, he reacts in the wrong way by cutting off the soldier's ear - which Jesus sharply rebukes (John 18:10). Blind rage at the world's injustice likely will not contribute to the problem in a positive way and may very well make things worse. Rather, seek God's face in these matters and turn it over to him.
Express Lament -
Unlike some religions like Buddhism who teach us to adopt a passive attitude towards life, Christianity teaches us not to remain complacent with injustice. It should make us feel something, as we know that this is not how God intended things to be. Remember Jesus himself wept over the state of his creation (Jn 11:35) - and we as Christians should also be moved to bring his Gospel of love and healing to the world.
Reach Out -
Jesus recognizes the Injustice of the world, and so he beckons us to take the message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. By his death and resurrection, he has inaugurated a kingdom in which there will ultimately no longer be any injustice. Let us go out into the world, giving our reason for the hope that is within us (1Peter 3:15).