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Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to
share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who
appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Luke 12:13–14
Many things in life are not fair. Children are keenly aware of this
any time they sense they have been cheated by a sibling. They
complain to their parents, just as the person in the crowd quoted
above complained to Jesus about his brother. We want justice and
can become quite upset when we feel that we have been dealt an
injustice.
The passage above is interesting because Jesus gently but clearly
refuses to be the arbiter of justice for this man. It may indeed be
the case that he was cheated out of his inheritance by his brother.
But it’s interesting that Jesus not only refuses to resolve the
dispute, He then goes on to teach about greed, suggesting that the
cheated man was acting out of greed.
If you were cheated out of your inheritance by a sibling, how would
you react? If a sibling were to do this, it would clearly be a sin
and an injustice. But the question at hand is your reaction to
being cheated. Being cheated by another might result in one of two
responses. The most common response is to immediately seek justice,
to fight back. But this is not always what God will inspire us to
do. Instead, when we experience injustice, we are given an
opportunity to love on a very deep level. And this must be our
response. This is why Jesus said we must love our enemies and pray
for those who persecute us. In the big picture of eternity, earthly
injustices are always an opportunity for grace. This is evident by
simply looking at the gravest injustice of the suffering and death
of the Son of God. Jesus did not complain about being so cruelly
treated. He did not call on the angels of Heaven to destroy the
Pharisees and Romans who attacked Him. Instead, Jesus used the
injustice inflicted upon Him as a foundation for His gift of
salvation.
As we journey through this life, we need to decide whether we are
going to live for this life or for eternity. We cannot have both.
However, by choosing to live for eternity, we also enhance our
lives here on earth in ways that nothing in this world can match.
For example, say you experienced the unfortunate situation of
extreme poverty. Say you were cheated out of your home and
possessions and were left with nothing. Would this make you
miserable? It might, but it doesn’t have to. Instead, such an
unfortunate circumstance has the potential for you to live
day-by-day, trusting in God’s providential care and to offer mercy
in the face of injustice. And that is good. It is good for your
eternal soul. It is good because it will motivate you to trust God
on a very deep level and to become a beacon of God’s mercy. By
contrast, if you had everything you could ever want in this world,
it would be seriously tempting to rely less upon God and more upon
the things you possess in this world. But the things of this world
cannot save your eternal soul. In fact, they are a serious
hindrance to your ability to trust in God alone. So, truth be told,
poverty and injustice actually open the door to an opportunity for
much more grace in our lives than material wealth does. But so
often we still long to have more and more of the things of this
world.
Reflect, today, upon the spiritual and eternal blessings that come
from relying solely upon God and not upon material wealth. This is
a hard lesson for most people to learn. If this is your struggle,
then try to take on the eternal perspective. Try to look beyond the
temporary stability and pleasures that come from accumulating
earthly wealth, so that you will see the eternal riches that come
from seeking God alone. Everything in this world will one day pass
away. In the light of that fact, recommit yourself to the embrace
of God’s riches by loving others through every injustice you
encounter in life.
Most merciful Lord, You endured the greatest injustice ever
known. But in the face of that injustice, You offered mercy and the
gift of salvation, transforming that injustice into the greatest
act of love ever offered. Help me to imitate Your merciful heart
and to see injustice, poverty, and every difficulty I encounter as
an opportunity to turn more fully to You. Jesus, I trust in
You.
Image: Église Saint-Martin de Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds, CC BY-SA
4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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