Justice of God

The Justice of God is manifested in His infinite mercy and in His enormous, excessive and extravagant love. This is the holiness of God. The psalmist declares that God is kind, slow to anger and rich in compassion. Our God is a forgiving God who is merciful and just. He wants all to be saved. We are equal in His sight and completely loved by Him. He is our Father and we are His children. He alone sees our hearts and knows the story of each person. The business of God is finding us and He is never outdone in generosity. God is holy and we are all called to holiness so that we reflect His loving presence in the world. We are called to mirror God’s unlimited forgiveness in our lives. To be holy is to be set apart, consecrated so that we are formed according to the mind and heart of God not for our sake but always for the sake of others. The Parable of the workers in the vineyard who are paid the same wages for unequal work in the Gospel of Matthew (20:1-16) reveals the justice of God. It is a kingdom parable. It is addressed to the opponents of Jesus who criticized Him for eating with tax collectors, sinners and prostitutes. Jesus shows concern for the marginalized and outcast. The parable reminds us that we are better off with grace than with justice. If God gave us what we deserve, we would never enter the kingdom of heaven. We are loved not because we deserve it but because God is love. God’s saving love is not a wage. It is a gift. We are equally loved by God and human standards are not to be used to measure God’ generosity. The first hired workers in the parable who worked the whole day under the heat of the sun protested because they received the same wage like the latecomer workers. Blessings and rewards are received out of the goodness and love of God and not based on merit or entitlement nor length of service. We are therefore to rejoice at our neighbor’s good fortune. The justice of God is His infinite mercy and He loves and forgives because the world does not know how to love and forgive. We called to be holy, to have the same mind and heart of God.