Morning Devotionals

by Don Emmitte

 

April 5th, 2008

 

"Life Is Not Fair (Part 2)"

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. (Luke 18:1-8a NIV).

The Hebrew Bible is obsessed with the idea of the justice of God. Remember Abraham's argument with God concerning Sodom. The Lord had revealed to Abraham that Sodom would be destroyed because of its great wickedness. Abraham asked rather boldly, "What if there were fifty righteous people in the city, would you still destroy the city?" Then Abraham argues God down to ten righteous people. But at the heart of the argument is a question that resounds throughout the entire Old Testament, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" And the answer is affirmed by both the Law and the Prophets: Above all else, God is a righteous and just God.

When we think of Jesus we think of God's mercy and grace. But Jesus affirmed the principle of God's righteousness. Jesus told about a woman who had a problem. She was a widow and someone was treating her in an unjust manner. She went to a judge who feared neither "man nor God," to try to get some relief, but the judge ignored her plea. Some people would have stopped right there, but not this woman. She "rejected the judge's rejection." She hounded him at every opportunity to give her justice. Finally the obstinate judge gave in to the more obstinate woman and justice prevailed.  

Then Jesus added a moral to his little parable, "And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?" God is a just God. Tomorrow I will begin to look at some specifics in this area. However, rest assured that God is not without mercy and grace. He WILL make all things right!