Mercy and Justice

 February 21, 2024

Suppose I had been driving under the influence, crossed the center line and in the head-on crash, your child was killed. I was arrested, tried, and sentenced, so it could be said I paid my debt, but nothing I can do would restore your child to you. You are a genuine Christian, so through your tears, you forgive me. That would be mercy, but wouldn’t restore your child. The law might say justice had been served, but though you were merciful, you wouldn’t necessarily feel that justice had prevailed.

In the Levitical Law that many of us have been reading, animals were regularly offered as sacrifices. An innocent animal was slain because mercy isn’t enough to set things right. Human sin always robs someone of something that cannot be replaced, even if it isn’t a material object. My lie robs you of truth; your betrayal robs me of trust. Everything is out of balance. Someone always pays the price of sin. It may be the sinner, or it may be the sinned-against, but someone always pays.

The Levitical sacrificial system wasn’t able to actually even things out; it merely pointed to the Great Sacrifice Jesus made when he was the Lamb of God, slain for our sins, offering his blood as a covering for our misdeeds. In Christ, God in his mercy swallowed the injustice, the imbalance our sins had caused. As the psalm says, “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.” (Psalm 85:10). In Christ, the balance has been restored, and one day, it will be manifest for all to see.