What did Jesus say about social justice?

Whether the Lord came to Nazareth again before or after this Jerusalem visit we cannot say, for Luke is not interested in fixing the time of events, but in their moral significance and order. In the Lord's home city He entered the synagogue and stood up to read the Word of God. It is not said that He asked for the book of Isaiah, but this was handed to Him, certainly by divine guidance. He opened the book to Chapter 61:1-2, a most lovely prophecy of the Messiah (vs.17-19). It was in Judea that the Spirit of God had publicly come upon Him, anointing Him for the marvelous service of grace: now when He returned it was the perfect time to read this Scripture. He was first to preach the gospel to the poor, and "the common people heard Him gladly." He manifestly came for the help of those in need, not to seek the patronage of the rich. The broken hearted, the captives, the blind, those who were bruised -- these were the subjects of His gracious ministry. The bruised speak of those suffering under oppression.

Preaching glad tidings to the poor was part of the mission for which the Lord was anointed, and how perfectly was this carried out. It was not yet His time to “reprove with equity for the meek of the earth,” or to judge the poor with righteousness, as He will in the coming day; but He preached to them God’s disposition of grace, and a great salvation, not from the Roman yoke, but from the power of sin and Satan. His words to Simon the Pharisee about the creditor and the two debtors, manifest the character of His message, as do also His words to the poor woman who came uninvited to Simon’s house, “Thy sins are forgiven,” and “Thy faith has saved thee; go in peace.”

God’s care for the poor, or for the meek, is told out in the mission of Christ. If the poor have been denied the best that this world affords, His Son was preaching to them things that were infinitely better, and they were available for all who had faith in God and in His Son. The rich man may be suddenly deprived of all his goods, like the man in Luke 12; or after having enjoyed them, be cast into hell, like the rich man in Luke 16; but the poor, who accept the glad tidings preached by Jesus, although as poor as Lazarus, and as miserable in relation to his circumstances, can look forward to a heavenly home, where all is bliss.

Observe here that there was no point more remarkable in the ordinary ministry of Jesus than His care for the poor. To the poor the gospel was preached. His concern about them was the very reverse of all that was found among men before. If others had cared for the poor, it was but an evidence of the working of His Spirit in them, and nothing characteristic; in Jesus' case it was opening out His heart, if possible, with greater care to them than to any others, the bright hopes that the gospel announces, the display of that which is eternal for the eyes of believers in the midst of present need among those who were most liable to be overwhelmed by it.176 "And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." There we find a rebuke, couched certainly in the gentlest terms; nevertheless, it was that which was intended, no doubt, to deal with the conscience. John seems to have been stumbled; but blessed was he whosoever was not offended in Jesus. There was nothing that so grated upon every natural thought of a Jew as the rejection and shame accompanying the Messiah, or those that bore witness of Him. Man was wholly unprepared for it. They had been waiting for long and weary years for the Messiah to bring in deliverance. Now that He was come, that evil should fall with apparent impunity on His servants, and even upon Himself — that they, and He too, should be despised of men — was too much for their faith. They were "offended" in Him.177

When His public service called Him to speak out, what so uncompromising! "Blessed ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach and cast out your name as wicked for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap [for joy]; for, behold, your reward is great in the heavens, for in the same manner did their fathers to the prophets. But woe to you the rich! for ye have received your consolation; woe to you that are filled now! for ye shall hunger. Woe, ye that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe, when all men speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets" (Luke 6:20-26).

The fourth woe is a denunciation of their show of being meticulous in trivial matters while ignoring for more serious matters which the law required, judgment, mercy and faith. Fairness of judgment in discerning between good and evil was to them a matter of no Importance compared to tithing the smallest, most insignificant items of income. Mercy toward others in need was also ignored; and faith, the one principle of any true relationship with God, was forgotten. They ought to have put for more emphasis on these things, while of course not neglecting the small things, but not making them the matter of prime attention. It is evident that blind guides are worse than none at all. But the Pharisees had no excuse, for they were able to find the gnat and strain it out of their diet, but oblivious to the Camel, they swallowed it.

This punctilious but mis-directed zeal was founded upon hollow pretence, which the Lord of truth and grace unsparingly exposed (Matt. 23). Those who outwardly appeared so righteous unto men were inwardly full of hypocrisy and iniquity. To the pure and fiery eyes of heavenly holiness, they were neglecting the weightier matters of the law of God — judgment, mercy and faith, while insisting upon trivialities of conduct which were but human in their origin. The spirit of the divine commandments was ignored, while their authority was supplemented and therein usurped by the tradition of man. The Pharisees had forgotten the solemn warning through Moses of old: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you" (Deut. 4:2; Deut. 12:32). Into this snare of meddling with God's word, man of every age is liable to fall; hence we find in the conclusion of the Apocalypse, similar warnings addressed to any who should add to, or take away from, the words of the prophecy of that book (Rev. 22:18-19).

Both in word and deed, the Lord displayed a special loving interest in the welfare of the masses, oppressed as they were by the Pharisees and scribes who shut up the kingdom of heaven against them, neither entering themselves nor suffering the people to enter (Matt. 23:13). It was foretold that a characteristic feature of the ministry of the Messiah would be that the poor should have the gospel preached to them (Luke 4:18; Luke 7:22). The humble in heart often have a poor purse, and Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3).

But this cared for, they must manifest Him also on His salvation side, in His regard for the poor, the weak, the defenceless, and the oppressed. "Judge the weak and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and destitute." It must be still justice: that must not be violated even in pity to the poor; and there was a special commandment as to this (Ex. 23:3). Yet his poverty should nevertheless make him an object of special and tender interest: "Rescue the weak and needy: deliver him out of the hand of the wicked."

In contrast to the rule of all previous kings, that of the Lord Jesus will be one of perfect righteousness. What wonderful relief for a world so torn by the cruel authority of unrighteous men! It will be God's righteousness manifested in the reign of the Lord Jesus, who is called here both "the King" and "the King's Son," for while he reigns as King, He will be known also as "Son of David" (v. 1). "He will judge Your people with righteousness and Your poor with justice" (v. 2). Only then will the poor be properly considered, though meanwhile in the Church of God it is insisted by the Spirit of God in the apostles, "They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also (Paul) was eager to do" (Gal. 2:10). Thus, today, though public government does not care properly for the poor, the Church of God is made responsible to do so, though of course in a very limited sphere.

In spite of the desire of the natural man to be rich, the great majority are poor, though in some of these western lands there are few in need of daily bread. Still, in most lands, there are indeed poor, and there is a special appeal in the Gospel of God to those that are poor. When the Lord Jesus commenced His public ministry, and came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He read from Isaiah concerning His mission, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor" (Luke 4:16-18). The poor had a special place in the mission of Christ.