"Like Father, Like Son"

Of course, the merchants returned. About three years later, Jesus addressed the same injustice, this time quoting Jehovah's words condemning those who made His house "a cave of robbers." (Matthew 21:13; Jeremiah 7:11) Yes, when Jesus saw the greedy exploitation of people and the defilement of God's temple, he felt just as his Father did. And no wonder! For countless millions of years, Jesus has been taught by his heavenly Father. As a result, he was imbued with Jehovah's sense of justice. He became a living illustration of the saying, "Like father, like Son." So if we want to obtain a clear picture of Jehovah's quality of justice, we can do no better than ponder the example of Jesus Christ. -John 14:9, 10.

Jehovah's only-begotten Son was present when Satan unjustly called Jehovah God a liar and questioned the righteousness of his rule. What slander! The Son also heard Satan's challenge that no one would serve Jehovah unselfishly out of love. These false charges surely pained the Son's righteous heart. How thrilled he must have been to learn that he would play the key role in setting the record straight! (2 Corinthias 1:20) How would he do that?

As we learned in Chapter 14, Jesus Christ gave the ultimate, conclusive answer to Satan's charge impugning the integrity of Jehovah's creatures. Jesus thereby laid the basis for the final vindication of Jehovah's sovereignty and the sanctification of His name. As Jehovah's Chief Agent, Jesus will establih divine justice throughout the universe. (Acts 5:31) His life course on earth likewise reflected divine justice. Jehovah said of him: "I will put my spirit upon him, and what justice is he will make clear to the nations." (Matthew 12:18) How did Jesus fulfill those words?

Next time: Jesus Clarifies "What Justice Is"

Draw Close To Jehovah, 2002