“Within the kingdom of His might / All things are just and good and right” (Lutheran Service Book, 819:2)
The Chauvin case has gone to the jury but even after the verdict, no one will say “all things are just and good and right.” Look to other cases and to controversies dividing America and we have ample reason to lament so much that is wrong in our society. In 458 B.C. the Greek tragedian Aeschylus presented the “Oresteia,” three plays dealing with murders. Here’s earthly justice: “‘For hostile words let hostile words be paid’ so Justice cries out aloud, demanding what she is owed—'and for a bloody stroke let the payment be a bloody stroke’” (“Libation Bearers,” 306ff.).
Christians are among those who suffer injustice; where shall we find true justice? The quick answer is “heaven,” the glorious kingdom that will be ushered in when the ascended Christ returns visibly. True, but where’s God now when you, when I suffer injustice? Real life is filled with tragedies that we can’t escape, that won’t be erased. Escaping to heaven is not the immediate answer; the cross of Christ is. Injustice leads to suffering and death, something so common in this world, but when the One who died unjustly was raised and exalted, we know God has dealt directly with all the unfairness of this life.
“‘I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die” (John 12:32-33). The “bloody stroke” that justice demands was paid with the bloody stroke upon Christ for the sins of the whole world. “All things are just and good and right.” We believe that now; we’ll see it when the crucified Jesus visibly returns.
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