Conclusion of Jesus Clarifies "What Justice Is"

In such a climate, how was Jesus to help people understand what justice is? In his teachings and in the way he lived, he took a courageous stand against those religious leaders. Consider first some of his teachings. He directly condemned their myriad man-made rules, saying: "You make the word of God invalid by your tradition which you handed down." -Mark 7:13.

Jesus powerfully taught that the Pharisees were wrong about the Sabbath law-that, in fact, they had missed the whole point of that law. The Messiah, he explained, is "Lord of the Sabbath" and therefore entitled to cure people on the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:8) To stress the point, he openly performed miraculous cures on the Saabbath. (Luke 6:7-10) Such cures were a preview of the healing that he will perform earth wide during his Thousand Year Reign. That Millennium will itself be the ultimate Sabbath, when all faithful mankind will at last rest from centuries of laboring under the burdens of sin and death.

Jesus also made clear what justice is in that a new law, "the law of Christ," came into being after he completed his earthly ministry. (Galatians 6:2) Unlike its predecessor, the Mosaic Law, this new law largely depended, not upon a series of written commands, but upon principle. It did include some direct commands, though. One of these Jesus called "a new commandment." Jesus taught all his followers to love one another just as he had loved them. (John 13:34, 35) Yes, self-sacrificing love was to be the hallmark of all those who live by "the law of the Christ."

Next time: A Living Example Of Justice

Draw Close To Jehovah, 2002