Give Me Justice!

Jesus was telling the people why they should always pray and not lose heart. A woman, in his story, cried out to the impatient, unrighteous judge for justice from her opponent. She kept asking until he relented and acted in her favor. He tired of listening to her incessant pleas. “Now,” Jesus said, “will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and yet He is very patient with them”.

In other words, if vindication for the one appealing is what happens in a secular law court where the judge has no compassion, how kindly will God act in our favor, who are the ones he has chosen and toward whom He has loving patience?

Jesus ends with this: “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8)

All this has to do with appeals for justice. We see this kind of appeal going on in heaven when martyrs cry out to God asking for the right thing to be done on earth against those who persecuted them. They plead: “O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”(Rev 6:10). They did not want to do the judging themselves, but they expected God to do it. “Vengeance is mine” says the Lord, not the believer’s (Romans 12:19)

Your Plea

Should we cry out for justice? Do we need to be vindicated? Paul is fond of repeating the words of Isaiah, “He who believes in Him will not be disappointed”(Rom 10:11; Isa 28:16). The word “disappointed” may well be translated “ashamed” or “put to shame.” Paul seems to use this sentence to describe our relation to God. In other words, as a man trusts in what Christ has done for him, he is going to be declared to be right in the heavenly court.

But in this parable, it is said that those who cry out to Him will not only be justified before God, but justified before men. God will vindicate him before his enemies. We cry out when we are treated unjustly because we know that it matters that the name of God’s children and the cause of Christ will be proven to be right before men. “Wisdom WILL be known by her children.”

If He does not vindicate us before men immediately, then He nonetheless will do it quickly when He comes. He will prove Himself right, and all His children to be right, and all His peculiar will to be right in one decisive moment.

But, will he find faith on earth? Will there be people who trust Him after long years of persecution and injustice? That’s the question we must consider.