Justice

Today's Verses -- Matthew 18:1-8

Context:
Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem for the final time. At this point he is somewhere along the border between Samaria and Galilee. He has recently healed the ten lepers of their disease and he's talked to the Pharisees about when the kingdom of God would come. This text occurs approximately a month to six weeks before the crucifixion.

Text:
1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
4"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5yet 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!' "
6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (NIV)

taken from http://www.biblegateway.com/

Our world is filled with injustice. Some things we complain about just aren't fair, but others are true injustices. It is hard to understand why people would be so willing to seriously hurt others for their own gain, but we see it happen every day. Stockbrokers create elaborate schemes to make their clients feel rich while they actually steal funds away. Lenders offer deals that seem too good to be true...and they are. People who work the hardest physical jobs often make the least money. Prices increase while salaries stagnate.

God sees true injustice and he cares about those who suffer. We often cry out to God when life gets tough and things seem unjust. Often it seems as if he doesn't care or just won't listen. People lose jobs, their homes, and their health and God seems to be absent. After a time they give up on their prayers and they often give up on God.

God wants us to persist. He wants us to go first to him with our difficult situations, and he will provide answers. The answers, however, may not be the ones we expect. If he would just send down a lightning bolt and zap our adversaries, life would surely be easier! Instead he tells us to be patient, to heap burning coals on their heads by being kind and showing love, and to make sacrifices in our lifestyles to help make ends meet. Often he empowers us to change a situation with his strength instead of creating heavenly fireworks.

Do you truly trust him to take care of your needs and provide justice in your life? Do you persistently bring your needs to him and take action on the instructions he provides? How would your situation appear through his eyes? Don't give up on asking for his help, and keep the faith!

Matthew -- Day 1

This week we are popping up to the New Testament to give us a balance between the old and new covenants. Matthew has 28 chapters, so that would give us 5-6 chapters per day if we try to finish it all by Friday. Matthew's chapters are quite long, so I'll try to pull out some key chapters for us.

Today, read chapters 1-4. This covers the time from the birth of Jesus until he's called the first disciples.

Today's devotion: Mt 1:1-17

1A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
7Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
Abiud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Eliud,
15Eliud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ. (NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

Ok, I know, you think I must be crazy to have you read a genealogy! Hey, at least it's in the NIV, so you don't have to worry about all the 'begets'!

While genealogies can be rather boring (and hard to pronounce), it is fascinating to see the characters who were part of Christ's lineage. How many names do you recognize from our Old Testament study so far? A few of the key ones:

Abraham -- father of the Jewish race

Isaac -- the promised one that Sarai couldn't wait for

Jacob -- the one who stole his brother's birthright

Judah -- who sold his brother Joseph to a band of gypsies

Tamar -- who tricked her father-in-law, Judah, into making her pregnant

Rahab -- the prostitute in Jericho, mother of Boaz

Ruth -- the Moabite who followed her mother-in-law back to Israel

David -- the king who sinned with Bathsheba

Solomon -- the wisest, yet he kept many wives and concubines despite God's warnings


In addition, many of the most evil kings in Judean history are included on that list!

Yet from this line of losers came the King of all Kings, our Lord and our salvation.

It is so encouraging to me that God uses real, flawed human beings to do his will. He doesn't want us to be perfect, but he will use our imperfection to achieve great and wonderful things. Even today, he calls on those of us who are weak, selfish, and stained by sin to show his amazing love to others. And he loves us more than we can comprehend... regardless of how we act. Isn't that amazing?