God is not just.

There will be no reflection on Saturday.

I’ve been reading a treatise by Isaac of Nineveh (a 7^th century Syrian monk), who taught that God is not just. Follow his line of reasoning, if you will:

Just is simply not enough. If God were just, then most of us would be doomed because of our sins and failings. No. God is more than just. God is love, and his live overcomes any demands that justice might make, particularly when it comes to our salvation and redemption.

Isaac points to two examples in the Gospels of God’s love triumphing over justice:

·         The keeper of the vineyard who pays the last group of workers an entire day’s wage even though they had not earned it.

·         The parable of the prodigal son, who doesn’t get what he deserved, but was treated with prodigal love and compassion. (Some have suggested that a better name for this parable would be “the prodigal father.”

By looking at our own lives, perhaps, we can see Isaac’s point:

·         Can you recall a time in your life when you have been given a far greater blessing than you thought you deserved?

·         Can you recall a time in your life when your sins were cast aside and overlooked while, again, you have been blessed beyond anything you could have expected?

God is not merely just. He is so much more than that. Thank God.