Human Mathematics
Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” Genesis 18:25 NASB
Deal justly – What does it mean to execute justice? Paul gives us a hint. It’s not pleasant. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and “the wages of sin is death.” In other words, we are all condemned. If God is going to execute justice, we all perish.
Of course, that isn’t news. The consequences of disobedience have always been severe. Abraham knew that long ago when he objected to God’s condemnation of Sodom. Abraham attempted to negotiate on behalf of any righteous people who might still live in that (literally) God-forsaken place. He wasn’t successful. We know why. But Abraham’s plea forces us to confront the implications of justice from a holy God.
“The midrashic reading transforms this rhetorical cry into a profound either-or statement: ‘The judge of the whole earth shall not do justice—if it is a world You want, then strict justice is impossible. And if it is strict justice You want, then a world is impossible.’ To judge the earth is to annihilate it (perhaps a pun on shofet-shotef, to judge/to sweep away). Mishpat (justice) is the modality that human beings can never appropriate as their own. Ein midat ha-mishpat midat ha-adam, as Maharal says: mathematical exactness is not existentially suited to human life. . . For weal or woe, mishpat, absolute standards of justice, cannot be realized in this world as God has created it. To adhere to such standards is to destroy the world; in order to build the world, ḥesed, the generous perception of alternative possibilities, is necessary.”[1]
Perhaps the consequences of justice are part of the reason the Church left its Jewish context and opted for a redefinition of grace. Justice means death. Grace means life (according to this dichotomy). Therefore, we must find some theological way to retain God’s holy justice and, at the same time, allow grace to save us. The solution was Jesus’ death on the cross and the penal theory of redemption. We’ve all heard it: “Jesus paid the price.” The assumption is that his death paid the penalty justice demanded so that we could be excused. There are two crucial, missing factors in this theory. First, the Bible is pretty clear that one man cannot pay for another man’s sin. And secondly, Israel never believed that the covenant relationship with God was based on justice. Israel was never a religion of earning righteousness. The entire sacrificial system is an admission that such an approach to God is impossible. Grace and ḥesed have always been essential to Israel’s relationship with God. There is no penalty to pay because God’s covenant with Israel isn’t based on justice. The mathematics of justice are humanly impossible.
Breathe a sigh of relief, please. God knows you aren’t righteous. He knows you haven’t measured up to the standard of holiness. Justice will kill you. But love won’t—and He loves you.
Topical Index: justice, mishpat, Genesis 18:25
[1] Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis, p. 110.
