Three times in the biblical record we are reminded that community is endangered: in the wilderness after the flight from Egypt, in Babylon after the Exile, and in Jerusalem after the occupation by the Greeks and Romans. These are historical moments when the biblical community experienced deep transformational change. The social context changed as the people of God reorganized their individual and corporate lives around the new truths revealed in the face of total destruction.

It is an assumption of this article that social justice is sensitive to the social system in which it is being defined and applied. Therefore, considering a key biblical theme such as the Kingdom of God is important to the social context of the followers of Jesus and their understanding of social justice. The New Testament is the result of one of the possible responses to the social crisis caused by first the Greek, and then the Roman occupations. It is the revelation received by this group which informs their understanding of the appropriate response to God and frames their concept of social justice.

In the New Testament, we are directly confronted with four responses to the social crisis. We encounter the fifth indirectly (through the disciples of John the Baptist) in the New Testament and from other sources.

First, the Sadducees, members of the ruling Sanhedrin, descendents of the privileged classes who had first tended the vision after the occupation of the Promised Land, opted to deal with the challenge to their community by assimilation. They turned from the challenge of reinterpreting the central vision of their society: loving and honoring the God who has demonstrated Himself to be radically compassionate and righteous as He acted on their behalf by delivering them from a state of enslavement – and acted as if the vision is dead and the guiding story is over.

Second, the Pharisees, descendents of the caretakers of the last successful “regeneration” of the national vision, were guardians over the calcification of the structures that had given life to the old vision. During the Exile in Babylon, the vision of a community embodying the compassion and righteousness of God were given new dynamics in the emphasis on the written Law and the worshipping synagogue community. But by New Testament times the Pharisees had shifted their faith to the form and lost confidence in the dream. They could not find enough life in the forms to keep the dream alive. So they retreat behind a wall of unique behavior that distinguishes them from others and in actuality separates them.

Third, the Essenes recognized that old forms could not contain the life that was necessary to keep the vision alive. A new response was necessary if the holy community was to continue. Faced with the challenge of living the biblical vision of community, the Essenes retreated; abandoning the idea that the vision could be sustained in the larger community, and lived in isolation. The teachings of the Essenes bear considerable resemblance to the many found in the New Testament. Clearly their choices privatize the vision, narrowing the original hope from the nation to a remnant.

Fourth, the Zealots have secularized the vision which is now identified with the physical space of the nation. They believe that they must drive out the impure Romans and re-establish Jewish rule for the “regeneration” of the vision.

Finally, we have the followers of Jesus. Jesus addressed the issues straight on. Jesus’ encounters with the Sadducees and the Pharisees are clearly marked in the New Testament. In addition to such theological issues as the resurrection of the dead, Jesus confronted the result of their social practices. He consistently demonstrated that their actions reflect an awareness of God’s nature, but do not rise to the level of embodying that nature. So the Pharisees have turned God’s intention for Sabbath as an enrichment of humanity into a series of rites that enslave humanity. In Matthew 12:7 and Luke 11:42, Jesus’ challenge is clear: God wants mercy (compassion) rather than sacrifice (form). In Matthew 22:15-22, a likely encounter with Zealot mentality resulted in Jesus affirming that we should pay taxes to the legitimate state and still be obedient to God.

Relationships of righteousness and compassion are separate from political control. If John’s disciples are Essenes, then we see Jesus responding to their concerns that Jesus’ actions do not reflect the behavior they expect of the Messiah. Jesus told John, “Look at the outcome of my ministry in the lives of the poor and oppressed.” To John’s disciples, He affirms that now is not the time for fasting – do not absolutize ritual – and that they must expect new social forms. New wine, He says, will require new wineskins to contain it adequately.

Jesus sees the vision of community that God inspired in the Exodus and that He redefined in the Babylonian Exile as now being carried by the new “wineskin” of relationships found within God’s Kingdom. This reality is structured by the Kingdom’s presence. Jesus is the first expression of its breaking into the world. The community established by His followers becomes the institutional expression of the vision and the embodiment of God’s compassion and righteousness.

Of all five responses to the need to regenerate the biblical community in the New Testament, only the followers of Jesus seek to be inclusive. He admonishes them to go into the highways and byways and compel people to come into the banquet. He gives the image of a small mustard seed growing into a tree that can receive the birds of the air. The other groups seek to protect the vision of biblical community by excluding others who do not satisfy some standard. Jesus says the only standard is to recognize that we cannot satisfy a standard and throw ourselves on the mercy of God.

As we explore the limits of social justice, this is our point of departure. We are citizens of a parallel kingdom and our difference is one of inclusion rather than exclusion. We are committed to showing members of all other kingdoms what our God is like. We demonstrate that the true vision of community, one of radical righteousness and limitless compassion, can still be found on earth and has an effective voice that can be raised on behalf of those who are voiceless. Jesus’ response to John’s lack of certainty,

Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. (Mt 11:4-6, ESV)

People are enslaved today. Young women and girls around the world experience lives of horror. They are prey for more powerful men and women. As we act and speak on their behalf, does it result in a change in their circumstances?

People are enslaved today. Some workers are cheated and paid less than a fair wage for their work. The poverty they experience is a breeding ground for exploitation. As we act and speak on their behalf, does it result in a change in their circumstances?

People are enslaved today. Prisons shape the lives of both inmates and their families. Isolation and stigma bring larger hurts. As we act and speak on their behalf, does it result in a change in their circumstances?

People are enslaved today. Illiteracy stunts opportunity, it shrinks the world, it artificially limits learning. The ranks of adults in need of basic literacy skills are swollen by the children whose basic education is without real learning. As we act and speak on their behalf, does it result in a change in their circumstances?

People are enslaved today. Homelessness and displacement set people adrift in the sea of their own countries. They are victims of mental illness, civil unrest, political instability or their own lack of judgment. As we act and speak on their behalf, does it result in a change in their circumstances?

People are enslaved today. People are blind today. People are lame today. They live in communities which cannot assure them of basic healthcare. As we act and speak on their behalf, does it result in a change in their circumstances?

The disciples of John the Baptist will come again and ask, “Are you the one or should we look for another?” As you are informed by the articles in this edition, bring a Kingdom perspective that will compel you to be inclusive and a healer so that we can answer with Jesus, “Go and tell John what you hear and see.”

Having served inner city congregations, rural congregations, communities in Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and now Rwanda, Dr Dwight Jackson works for Food for the Hungry as Country Director in Rwanda and Burundi. Dwight was also a Baptist pastor and missionary, having served in churches in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. Formerly a university level educator, he and Brenda reside in Kigali and share six children and seven grandchildren.

The author has used his paraphrase of the Bible unless otherwise stated.