Justice? Mercy? Porque no los dos?
July 23, 2021
Hey y’all!
Today’s first reading is Exodus 20:1-17. This passage contains the Ten Commandments. One line in particular struck me:
“For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God,
inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness
on the children of those who hate me,
down to the third and fourth generation;
but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation
on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
I’ve always had a hard time reconciling God’s justice with God’s mercy. The two seem so contradictory, yet they both are so essential to who God is in relation to us. I struggle to understand the balance between justice and mercy and how God is both just and merciful. I struggle to know when I myself need to focus on one or the other attribute. This struggle has been going on for years, yet the answer has been in this very popular Scripture passage all along.
God speaks first of His justice. He warns the Israelites, and us, of punishment for those who hate Him. He then switches gears and speaks of His mercy. The extent of His mercy far outweighs the extent of His justice: a thousand generations versus just four generations. I think all of this has meaning.
God speaks of His justice first because He doesn’t want us to forget about it. Some people tend to focus solely on God’s mercy and run the risk of taking advantage of it, which is a grave sin. God wants us to remember that He is just, that there is right and wrong, and that if we don’t repent and turn to Him, there will be eternal consequences.
He then moves on to His mercy. You know the phrase “save the best for last”? I think God’s doing that here. His mercy for those who love Him is infinite. We can’t forget that either. Just like some people run the risk of focusing too much on mercy, others focus too much on justice and lose sight of mercy entirely. God doesn’t want that for us either. We exist because of God’s mercy. We have the Sacraments because of God’s mercy. We get to keep trying after we fail because of God’s mercy. We have the opportunity to live forever in Heaven with God because of God's mercy. This passage shows us that while God is just, His mercy is what’s going to change our lives and heal our wounds. I think the Lord is telling us that mercy is what’s most important, as long as we don’t forget about justice altogether.
We need both justice and mercy, and they both need to come from a place of love. God is love, so that’s easy for Him, but for us, it can be difficult. When we exercise either of these attributes, we need to will the good of the other. We need to truly want what is best for them and act in accordance with that desire. That’s what God does, and Jesus tells us to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
That’s all for now. Know of my prayers for you and your families, and please keep me and this ministry in your prayers.
Peace of Christ,
Miss Jessica
A.M.D.G.