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Justice is black and white, but Mercy is the color of love. Part 4: The Age of Mercy and Grace

One of the best-known passages of the Gospel happens at the beginning of the 8th chapter of John, (verses 2 through 5): And early in the morning he (Jesus) came again into the temple, and all the people came to him; and he sat down and taught them. And the scribes and the Pharisees bring [to him] a woman taken in adultery, and having set her in the midst, they say to him, Teacher, this woman has been taken in the very act, committing adultery. Now in the law Moses has commanded us to stone such; thou therefore, what sayest thou?

If you have heard the story before, you know that the turning point in that passage happens when Jesus tells the crowd, “Let him among you who is without sin, cast the first stone.” Jesus knew what would happen after that. The woman left that place unscathed.

Justice is black and white, but Mercy is the color of love. Part 3: The day the universe changed.

Did God change His mind (about the definition of right and wrong) in going from the Old to the New Covenant? We have known the answer since the days of Job and Abraham: Elihu, speaking in Job 34:10, says: “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, And from the Almighty to do wrong. (NASB)” Similarly, Abraham speaking to God, in Genesis 18:25, argues: “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to kill 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? (NASB)”

Both their arguments are the same: The author of Good and Justice cannot and will not do otherwise. If God cannot change, and Justice was created by Him, then Justice and Mercy cannot change.

Worse Monsters

The loose wrappings at my wrist and neck flutter like flags of war in the wind. Hand over hand I turn and face the rocky wall of the precipice. I have to pull up; but my sinews do not remember how. I look down again and wonder if that too will be my end.

Justice is black and white, but Mercy is the color of love. Part 2: Justice and Mercy in the presence of the Living God.

This conversation started by acknowledging that there are passages in the Old Testament that, on first reading, seem difficult to reconcile with the concept of a loving Heavenly Father that Jesus proclaimed in the New Testament. But we know that that difficulty cannot mean there is a contradiction because the God we are talking about has already told us He does not change. The things that were right and wrong back in the Old Testament were still right and wrong in the New, and are still right and wrong today. That is a logical requirement of believing in an Eternal God that created everything, including thought, logic, and all moral laws.

Justice is black and white, but Mercy is the color of love. Part 1: the reversal of the curse.

I have heard people say that Jehovah (Yahweh, the I AM) – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God of the Old Testament – is an angry god. And to prove it they will cite Laws given to Moses and tell you that no civilized man today would consider those statutes just. But if that were a logical argument, how come Jesus did not reach the same conclusion?

Were we ever a team? How do teams make good decisions?

Engineering PhD students have to decide, at least a year before they get their degree, whether they want to go into Academia or Industry after graduation. I met Professors who told me that, in their view, if you got a PhD it was to join Academia. But, having come from Industry, that was not my view. I saw both as valid choices; and if properly managed, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. But there is a big difference between the two choices.

How hard is it to separate Truth from Lie?

Today, September 17, is Constitution Day. There’s probably no clearer definition of what it means to be an American than the fact that we all share the same Constitution. There should be no clearer definition of what it means to be a Christian than the fact that we believe in the same Gospel, that we follow the same Jesus. But there was a time in our country’s history when there were two Constitutions. It’s a good thing there is only one Gospel.

What if He meant it? Part 4 of 4: Obedience leads to revelation

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says: “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be opened unto you.” Sometimes this seems too easy, even too good to be true. Yet, if you asked someone about what Scriptures they find hard in the Bible, seldom will this one be mentioned. Why? Because we really want it to be true. It would be wonderful if it was true. But when our prayers are not answered that way, how do we explain it? Do we make excuses for God? But, didn’t He mean it?

What if He meant it? Part 3 of 4: He must increase, but I must decrease

One day, John’s disciples got into an argument with a Jew, probably a Teacher of the Law, and it looks like it didn’t go too well for them. In fact, they were so bugged by it that even though the argument was about “purification rites”, what they complain to John about is that Jesus and his disciples are baptizing more people than they are. And it is in that exchange that John famously says about Jesus and himself: he must increase but I must decrease.

What if He meant it? Part 2 of 4: If any way…

There is a phrase Jesus used several times that gained much more significance once his disciples began to understand what it meant. It is that phrase about taking up your cross and following him. Maybe they thought he was using it like a parable, to emphasize how important the Kingdom of God is. But as soon as they realized he wasn’t just another prophet, that he was indeed the Messiah, Jesus started to tell them plainly where this whole story was going to end: At the cross.

Several times the Gospel tells us that they did not understand what he was telling them. Maybe they just couldn’t believe He meant it.