‘Is it better to be just or merciful?’ (Matthew 1:19-20)

In 2019 Joe Humphries wrote an article in The Irish Times entitled, ‘Why humans need mercy more than justice.’  It began, “’Is it better to better to be just or merciful?’  This is a question that has troubled politicians and preachers down through the ages, but in recent times the hammer of justice has been banging particularly loudly.’ 

He explains that ‘by recent times’ he means since the enlightenment – when the Christian virtue of forgiveness started to drift out of fashion in political theory.  He quotes on Oxford University professor, who wrote that ‘it is the fact that other people do not exercise their power of harm to the full that allows us to survive from one day to the next.’  This professor even states that when the robots take over we had better hope they are merciful.

1.       The justice and mercy of Joseph

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly (19).  Joseph faced a dilemma: he wants to respond to Mary’s situation with both mercy and justice.  

Betrothal in that culture was like engagement, but it was more binding.  Joseph would have been between eighteen and twenty.  Mary between twelve and fourteen.  The engagement would have been arranged by their parents, but with their consent.  Promises would have been made before two witnesses.  It would be a year before they marry.  In Galilee they were strict about the pair being alone together.  They might never have been alone in private.

If a person cheated in betrothal it was considered an act of adultery.  Under the Old Testament law that could be punished by stoning.  That fact made me think of the Oxford University professor’s remarks—we owe our existence to the fact that others do not do us the full harm they could.  Joseph could have fought to have Mary killed.   

However, in Joseph and Mary’s day this death sentence was rarely carried out.  What Joseph would have been expected to do was divorce her publicly, and expose her to great public shame.  But Joseph is merciful.  He can divorce her quietly and save her as much condemnation as possible.

2.       The justice and mercy of Jesus

When I read the story of Joseph I think of two other occasions of women accused of sexual immorality.  The first is in Genesis 38 where Judah accuses his daughter-in-law Tamar.  Thinking that she had been a prostitute he had slept with her.  When he finds out that she is now pregnant he wants her to be burned to death.  Until his own guilt is exposed.  Judah wanted justice, but he had no place for mercy.  Justice was self-righteous and hypocritical.  Self-righteous people are often the least merciful of people.  If we lack mercy it might be because we have forgotten about the mercy that God has shown to us.

Then there is Jesus in John 8.  A woman caught in the very act of adultery is brought to him.  The people who brought her care neither for justice or mercy.  They are just trying to put Jesus in a difficult situation.  Jesus refuses to condemn her.  But he warns her to leave her life of sin.  He is merciful.  But there will be a day of justice.  Justice and mercy kiss in the life of Jesus.

3.       Justice and mercy in the Old Testament

How can Joseph, who is faithful to the law, show mercy?  How can Jesus, who is upholds the law, show mercy?  The law shows us what we deserve, but mercy seeks our forgiveness!

In the book of Zechariah, we see a High Priest by the name of Joshua (Joshua is the Hebrew form of the name Jesus).  The High priest stood between God and His people.  In particular the High Priest acted out God’s mercy and justice on the annual day of atonement.  That day of atonement pictured God’s desire to remove the people’s sin, and the fact that sin required the shedding of blood.

But as Joshua stands before God his robes are covered in excrement.  In his sin he is unworthy to carry out his duties.  Then God puts clean robes on him saying, ‘see, I have taken your sin’ (4).  How does God do this?  He does it by exercising both mercy and judgement.  ‘I will remove the sin of the land in a single day’ (9).  There was a greater day of atonement where Jesus was sacrificed fulfilling the need for justice, and where in mercy our sins were taken from us.

Climax:  Which is better, mercy of justice?

It is not really a good question.  We need both mercy and justice.  But in His justice God has not forgotten mercy.  He offers us mercy now, and there will be some justice now.  But he warns us that we need to be ready for a future day when there will be justice without mercy.

Tim Keller writes, ‘mercy isn’t the job of the Christian, it is the mark of a Christian.’  The Christian is someone who knows that a just God has found a way to show us infinite mercy.  Therefore, like Joseph we should be people of mercy.

Think of the Dublin riots.  Yes, we want to see justice done.  We want to have a society of law and order.  But so many of the reactions lacked mercy.  Everyone was looking for someone to blame.  It began with a merciless act of violence.  Before long tweets were circulating pointing out that the Irish citizen who had done this was from another country.  There was an attitude that stirred by hatred to the migrant, in contravention of the Bible’s teaching to welcome them.  Then there were the looters, young men mostly.  Even our Ministry of Justice called them ‘thugs and scumbags’.  That is hardly language wants mercy to people, many of whom come from socially deprived areas.  Then there was the lack of mercy shown to that Minister of Justice, a young woman who has endured much pain in her life.  Then there is the demonizing of a who variety of groups labelled as the ‘alt-right’.  Yes, we want justice to be done.  But surely, we want guilty people like ourselves to be transformed by the mercy of Jesus.  Surely the first thought of a Christian (and I am not sure it was my first thought) is ‘Lord have mercy’.