The Weightier Matters of the Law: Justice, Mercy and Faith)

In the Gospel of Matthew, we are told that Jesus reprimanded the religious leaders of his day for their misplaced priorities in the way which they applied Torah to their lives. We read there that he said: "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:23-24, NLT) Now, thanks to the attention of their ministers, many Christians are intimately familiar with what Torah has to say about tithing; but how many of them are aware of what Torah has to say about justice, mercy and faith?

Justice: In the Greek of the New Testament, the word is krisis, and it is indicative of a righteous decision in the way that it is employed in this passage describing Christ's remark to the Jewish religious leaders. The Hebrew equivalent indicates righteous judgment - a fair decision or sentence (see mispat). The first mention of the word is found in the eighteenth chapter of Genesis. We find there that God knew that Abraham would direct his family to do what was "right and just." Later, in the same passage, when God told Abraham that he was going to destroy Sodom, Abraham had the temerity to say: "Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?" Hence, in the very first book of Torah, the sense of the word is established.

In terms of specific instructions, we read in the book of Exodus: "In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor. Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent. Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth." (23:6-8) Likewise, in the book of Leviticus, we read: "Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly." (19:15) And, a little further down in the same chapter, we read: "Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or volume. Your scales and weights must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry materials or liquids must be accurate." (35-36) Hence, once again, we see the notion of fairness and truthfulness associated with this term.

The principle of fairness is also reinforced in a number of other passages in Torah. After enumerating a number of just punishments, we read in the twenty-fourth chapter of Leviticus: "This same standard <mispat> applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God." (22) In the book of Numbers, we read: "The same instructions <mispat> and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigners living among you." (16) Likewise, in the instructions given to Israel's judges, we read: "At that time I instructed the judges, ‘You must hear the cases of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you. Be perfectly fair in your decisions and impartial in your judgments. Hear the cases of those who are poor as well as those who are rich. Don’t be afraid of anyone’s anger, for the decision you make is God’s decision. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them.'" (Deuteronomy 1:16-17) Once again, the emphasis is on impartial justice for those who seek it.

Later, in the same book, we read: "For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt." (10:17-19) Also, "Appoint judges and officials for yourselves from each of your tribes in all the towns the Lord your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly. You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly. Let true justice prevail, so you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you." (16:18-20) And, we read: "True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt. Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command." (24:17-18) Interestingly, God tied the concept of fairness and justice to their own former experiences. Finally, in the curses delivered from Mt. Ebal, we read: "Cursed is anyone who denies justice to foreigners, orphans, or widows.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’" (27:19)

We should also note in connection with this topic of justice and judgment that the same Hebrew word is applied to ALL of the Lord's commandments, judgments, and statutes in Torah. In other words, it reinforces the notion of God's inherent fairness and justice and commitment to doing the right thing. Indeed, this is reinforced by the words of the Psalmist: "The laws <judgments - mispat> of the Lord are true; each one is fair." Hence, this also applies to Christ's summary of Torah - the commandments to love the Lord with our whole hearts and to love our each other as we love ourselves. After all, justice is all about how we treat each other, and we hear in these passages the echoes of Christ's Golden Rule.

Mercy: Again, in the Greek of the New Testament, the word is eleos, and it is indicative of mercy, kindness, and compassion toward others. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word is hesed, and it is indicative of mercy, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. Of particular interest to us, in the Hebrew Scriptures, mercy and judgment are often mentioned together (Psalms 89:14, 101:1, Isaiah 16:5, 30:18, Hosea 12:6, Zechariah 7:9). In other words, Jesus was drawing upon an old tradition when he made his remarks to the Jewish religious leaders of his day - a connection which would not have escaped the attention of those leaders (who were, of course, very familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures). Indeed, after we have finished discussed mercy and faith in the Torah, we will examine an even deeper connection between all three of the elements which Christ identified as the weightier matters of the Law.

In Torah, we read in the book of Genesis that God showed mercy/kindness to Joseph when he was taken to Egypt (Genesis 39:21). Likewise, in Exodus, we see that in his mercy, God led the people of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness (Exodus 15:13). In connection with obedience to God, we are informed that God stated that he would show mercy to those who loved him and kept his commandments. (Exodus 20:6, Deuteronomy 5:10, 7:9). Also, God's mercy is clearly linked with the forgiveness of sins in Torah (Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18). This sense that mercy is inextricably linked with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness in Torah is underscored by the writings of Christ's disciples included in the New Testament.

Faith: Interestingly, the word "faith" only appears two times in the King James English translation of the Hebrew Scriptures! Nevertheless, the word is prominently featured in the collection of writings which we refer to as the New Testament. The original Greek word is pistis, and it is indicative of a conviction that something is true - a belief. This sense of the word is further reinforced by the famous definition of faith found in the eleventh chapter of the anonymously authored epistle to the Hebrews. We read there that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (ESV) Moreover, in the examples of faith in action which follow this definition, the connection to Torah becomes more obvious. Indeed, most of the heroes of faith listed in that epistle were drawn from the writings which constitute the Torah (e.g., Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses)!

In the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, after God had made some important promises to Abram (1-5), we read that the one who became Abraham "believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness." (6) Unfortunately, however, most of his descendants only believed God when he performed some miracle that accrued to their benefit (Exodus 4:30-31, 14:31). Indeed, even God's many miracles were very often not enough to convince them to believe and trust in God (Numbers 14:11, Deuteronomy 1:19-33, II Kings 17:14). Hence, we can see that the Old Testament clearly equated faith with righteousness and disbelief with rebelliousness and sin.

Now that we have established that justice, mercy, and faith are such an integral part of Torah and the characterization of God's character in those writings, we will take a closer look at why Christ focused on those three elements as being so important. First, we should note that the first two elements (justice and mercy) are obviously concerned with how we treat other people. Indeed, a determination to always be fair and to do the right thing and to be kind, compassionate, merciful, and forgiving toward others goes to the heart of those two commandments which Christ identified as the greatest of the Torah and comprehending the whole: love for God and each other. Likewise, throughout his ministry, Christ stressed the importance of faith in God and him to a person's reconciliation to God and his/her ultimate salvation.

Indeed, the Gospels make very plain the centrality of the role which faith was to play among Christ's disciples. In Mark, we read that Christ instructed his followers to repent of their sins and believe the good news (1:15). On numerous occasions Christ also tied healing and the performance of miracles to faith (Matthew 9:28, 17:20, Mark 2:5, 5:34, 9:23-24, 10:52, 11:24, 16:17, Luke 7:50, 8:50, 17:19, 18:42, John 14:12). Also, the Gospel of John focuses a great deal of attention on the importance of faith in Christ. That gospel also informs us that John bore witness to Christ so that everyone would believe in him (1:6-7). Later, in the same chapter, we read: "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (11-12). And then there is that most famous of all passages in the Judeo-Christian Bible: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." (3:16-18) A little later, in the same chapter, this truth is reiterated: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." (36) Later still, Christ said: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." (5:24) In fact, John is literally full of these references to the importance of faith and belief to the people of the New Covenant (6:35, 40, 47, 7:38, 11:25-26, etc.)

Finally, the writings of Paul and the other apostles support the importance of faith in the life of Christ's disciples. In his letter to the saints at Rome, Paul wrote: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'" (Romans 1:16-17) Later, in the same letter, Paul wrote: "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." (3:21-28) Also, in the fourth chapter of the same epistle, Paul pointed to the fact that Abraham's faith had been attributed to him as righteousness, and that he was thereby made the father of the faithful. Likewise, in the thirteenth chapter of his first epistle to the saints at Corinth, Paul wrote that the primary gifts of God's Holy Spirit were faith, hope, and love. There are also numerous allusions to the centrality of the role of faith in his epistles to the Galatians and Ephesians.

And, if Paul's writings were not enough to reinforce the importance of faith in the life of the Christian, there are a lot of references to the essential role that faith plays in the life of Christ's disciples in the other writings of the New Testament. Of course, we have already talked about the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews. Even so, in verse six of that chapter, we are told that without faith it is impossible to please God - "for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." In the general epistle of James, we read that a "faith without works is dead." (2:18-20) In the first epistle of Peter, we read that the end of our faith is the salvation of our souls (1:9). John wrote that our faith is what helps us to overcome the world (I John 5:4). Finally, in the book of Revelation, we read: "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus." (Revelation 14:12) And, yes, that is a lot, but it is certainly NOT an exhaustive list of all of the Scriptures in the New Testament related to faith.

Thus, we begin to see why Christ singled out justice, mercy, and faith as constituting "the weightier matters of the Law." In fact, these were the very principles upon which his own teachings were founded. We see this in his identification of the two greatest commandments of Torah - the two commandments which summarize/comprehend the intent of the law and serve as the means for writing the law on their hearts - for them to internalize God's law. And, along with the emphasis on the essential role of faith in Christ, we see the commandments of Christ emerge - the commandments which Jesus Christ expected/expects ALL of his disciples to follow: To demonstrate our love for God by treating others with compassion, kindness, fairness, forgiveness, and to believe in God and the one whom God sent to this world to save all of us - Jesus of Nazareth. Yes, when we consider Christ's statement to the Scribes and Pharisees about "the weightier matters of the Law," the entire context of Scripture makes more sense (at least it does to me). What do you think?