Third Sunday in Advent: The One Who Brings Justice

One of the deepest desires of human beings is for justice. We long for our lives and the world to be impartially guided by what is just, right, true, and fair.

At our jobs or in our classrooms, in the courtroom or the sports field, we want all people treated well and measured equally against a dispassionate measure of fairness. This longing for justice is behind the outcries that arise when human rights are violated. International watchdog groups give voice to the helpless or the ignored so that justice can be upheld. The truth is that we long for justice even as we often experience injustice and a lack of fairness in our world and lives.

This longing for justice is a biblical theme. If we read through the Scripture asking what it tells us about God, we inevitably will discover that the God described in the Bible, amongst many other things, is a God of justice. The Torah calls God’s people to maintain justice and deal appropriately with wrongs: protecting widows, orphans, foreigners, and the weak in the face of a difficult world. The Hebrew word, mishpat, is the word most often translated as ‘justice’ in the Old Testament. It conveys the idea of a just cause being maintained with right and appropriate order in the world. 

When the prophet Isaiah speaks about the Messiah who is to come, we hear Isaiah say this Messiah will do many things, including reflecting God’s justice. Isaiah describes the Messiah this way:

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
    and he will bring justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1)

It is no coincidence that when Jesus begins His public ministry, He describes His calling by quoting a similar passage from Isaiah’s prophecies:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19; quoting Isaiah 61:1-2)

In response to humanity’s longing for justice God sends Jesus as a Messiah who brings justice.

[This is an excerpt of the Eastbrook Advent devotional for 2024 entitled “Who Is He?: Titles of Jesus the Messiah from Isaiah,” available on the Eastbrook App, Instagram, daily emails, blog, or PDF.]