Feature
2 December 2024
Injustice is a Reality
The human being can live under very severe conditions. But if there is something we find almost impossible to bear, it is injustice. When we look at situations where the evil prosper and the good suffer, something inside screams, “No!”
Life, however, teaches us that injustice happens. Many places in our world see those in authority abuse their power to oppress the people and enrich themselves. These evildoers have little to worry about. They are so powerful that few would dare call them to account. We are also familiar with the injustice which lurks in our workplaces, schools and homes. Those in charge might behave like tyrants. The strong seem to enjoy bullying those who cannot fight back. We are painfully aware of blatant favouritism being practiced.
Propelled by our yearning for justice, we might have tried to put things right. At great personal risk, we attempted to speak truth to power and stand up for the weak. At the end of the day, however, nothing seems to change. The unscrupulous continue to be rewarded, while those who play by the rules suffer.
These experiences of injustice affect us profoundly. We might fall into despair, as we resign ourselves to a reality in which evil wins. Some of us might even descend into cynicism. We are tired of being that fool who suffers for doing the right thing. We decide to switch sides. We begin to welcome evil and injustice when they benefit us.
Injustice at its Worst
This rather depressing article has recounted instances of injustice. There is one more to mention. It is an occurrence of evil worse than anything else our world has seen. It took place on that first Good Friday.
Christians proclaim Jesus of Nazareth a unique figure. He is the second member of the Holy Trinity. Jesus is the eternal and almighty God who has humbled himself and come to live amongst us as a fellow human being.
How did we respond to this momentous visit of our eternal and almighty God? We gave him a fine welcome. We put him on trial in a kangaroo court, which pronounced a guilty verdict on the most innocent of human beings. We brayed for his blood when Pontius Pilate tried to release him. We mercilessly mocked this God of ours. We whipped him. We made him carry a heavy cross. We nailed him to this cross and left him to hang there until he died. We, lowly and sinful creatures, welcomed our good and gracious God by humiliating him in public, torturing him with refined cruelty and finally murdering him in cold blood.
If there was ever a time for despair and cynicism, that first Good Friday was it. The greatest evil has been committed, but there seemed to be no consequences. The perpetrators of this crime celebrated their victory over the hapless Jesus. Those who cried out for Jesus’ blood and those who tortured him mercilessly returned to their normal lives after the saga ended. More inexplicably, God the Father was silent as this horrendous travesty of justice unfolded. All this while, Jesus’ mutilated body lay stone-cold dead. If this most horrendous of evils can go by unaccounted for, what hope do we have that things would ever change?
God Speaks
But Jesus’ story did not end on Good Friday. God the Father might have been silent thus far. But he finally spoke on Easter Sunday. He spoke by raising Jesus from the dead. In doing so, he spoke a resounding “No!” to the evils of Good Friday.
The resurrection of Jesus tells us what God truly thinks about the evil in our world. God is not okay with it or “chill” about it. God is, in fact, angry. He is determined to overcome it. By raising Jesus from the dead, God the Father says, “No! I will not allow my Son to remain dead, because this is an unacceptable outcome. I will not allow injustice to prevail and evil to have the final word. With my almighty power, I will overcome the effects of evil. Both the righteous and the evildoers will receive justice. I will put everything right!”
In the person of the resurrected Jesus, God gives us a preview of what the end will be like. It is an end where even the most meticulously planned evil will be thwarted and its effects undone. It is an end where the celebration of the evildoers will turn to mourning. It is an end where the righteous will be vindicated and exalted. The resurrection of Jesus tells us that this world will not forever remain as it is. In the end, there will be the new heavens and new earth, the home of righteousness.
In a world where we encounter incessant episodes of injustice, what prevents us from succumbing to despair and even becoming cynical? Where do we find the encouragement to do what is right, fight for justice and try to change things for the better? We find it ultimately in the “No!” that God spoke on that first Easter Sunday, as seen in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection assures us that those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” will be filled. They are on the winning side, whether it seems like it or not.
Because God has said, “No!”, we too can say, “No!” As Easter people, may we say it loud and clear!
This article was first published in the Apr-Jul 2024 issue of “Trumpet”, a newsletter of Trinity Theological College (TTC). It is reproduced here with the permission of TTC.
Dr Leow Theng Huat is a lecturer of theology at Trinity Theological College. He is a member and local preacher of Wesley Methodist Church.