The Gospel and Social Justice

All four Gospel accounts have startling teachings and deeds of Jesus that relate to social justice. Many people who already reject the Church’s social teachings ignore these Gospel accounts, preferring to see a figurative sense for these passages – i.e. Matt. 25 – rather than focus on the obvious literal sense, which is the foundation of all other senses of scripture. One fact that cannot be ignored is that all four Gospels begin the public life of Jesus with a lesson on social justice.

The Gospel of Matthew has Jesus’ public ministry begin with the Sermon on the Mount. Here, Jesus teaches from a mountain top about the essential characteristics of being a disciple. The beatitudes exhort us to hunger and thirst for justice, to be merciful, to be peacemakers, and to accept persecution for the sake of justice (Matt. 5: 6, 7. 9, 10). As Jesus continues to preach this sermon, he exhorts us to forgive our enemies and to love them (Matt 5: 38-48), to avoid judging others (Matt 7: 1-5), and to follow the golden rule (Matt 7: 12). These teachings stand in stark contrast to the prevailing teachings of the day, and Jesus offers them upon a mountain in Galilee where rebels would often meet to plan attacks on the Roman soldiers who occupied the region. These teachings take on a greater prominence, then, for we are exhorted to work tirelessly for justice, but in a peaceful way.

The Gospel of Mark has Jesus’ public ministry begin with Jesus teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. The audience was amazed as they taught as one having authority and not as the prevailing teachers of the day. What is more, Jesus performs a miracle in their midst – he drives out a demon from a man (cf. Mark 1: 21-28). This action stood in stark violation of the Sabbath where work could not be performed. Yet, Jesus performs this action boldly in the midst of the all in the synagogue to make a point: worship is pointless if it is not mission oriented. True worship leads to acts of justice, and acts of justice lead to true worship.

Luke’s Gospel also begins Jesus’ public life in a synagogue, and the synagogue is located in Jesus’ home town of Nazareth. Jesus gets up to read from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet, and he chooses this passage: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (cf. Luke 4: 16-30). Jesus then proclaims that this scripture is fulfilled in him. The people can’t accept this teaching, largely because they have focused so much on opposition to Rome that they have neglected the precepts of the law that relate to care and concern for the poor. Jesus uses the prophetic tradition to call the people to repentance on this point of social justice. Again, the lesson here in Luke is the same as that of Mark: true worship should lead to good deeds, and good deeds should lead to true worship.

John’s Gospel begins with two important events: the wedding feast at Cana and the cleansing of the Temple (cf. John 2). While the miracle at Cana has many figurative images at work here, the literal meaning is also important: Jesus cares for those who are without, and he provides for their basic needs. John then changes the placement of the cleansing of the Temple from the synoptic Gospels, who place this event at the end of Jesus’ ministry. John’s point in this rearrangement is the same as the synoptic accounts in their accounts of Jesus’ public ministry: social justice is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus condemns the entire system of money changing because it cheated the poor and deprived God of true worship. Again, worship and good deeds go hand in hand.

St. Paul and the Death Penalty

This year we have been celebrating the Year of St. Paul. While a great many people have focused on the teachings of St. Paul on a great many topics, there has been little said about Paul's conversion and what it meant for the early Church.

We first encounter Paul in Acts 7: 58 when the people who stoned Stephen to death laid their cloaks at the foot of Saul, who was apparently responsible for the death. Acts then records that "Saul was trying to destroy the church; entering house after house and dragging out men and women he handed them over for imprisonment" (Acts 8: 3). Without a doubt there is widespread notoriety within the Christian community about the identity of Saul. The early Christians would have feared him and avoided his presence as much as possible. In fact, Ananias probaby represents the attitude of the early church upon hearing of Saul's conversion. God asks Ananias to accept Saul, but he replies, "Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call upon your name" (Acts 9: 13-14).

How many of us would be willing to accept such a person into the Church?

When we look at the issue of the death penalty, I believe this aspect of Paul's life must be taken into consideration. In the book of Ezekiel we read, "As I live, says the Lord, I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but rather in the sinful man's conversion" (Ezek. 33: 11). What profound joy did God experience, then, in the conversion of Paul! It must be remembered that the Jewish authorities had no power to put anyone to death, as the Romans had that power. Consequently, the death of Stephen and others were acts of vigilantees who took the law into their own hands. These vigilantees were, in effect, murderers. Yet, God converts the most famous among them and asks us to accept him. Today, he is one of our most revered saints.

What, then, can we learn from this lesson regarding our present day practice of capital punishment?

While the Church acknowledges that the state has the right to execute a person if that is the only means available to protect society, there is also the obligation of the care of souls that the Church has received from the Lord. While a serious offender must be punished and kept apart from others in order to protect society, that offender does not lose his or her complete right to the common good. What is more, they have an eternal destiny that must be taken into consideration.

Perhaps in this year of St. Paul God is asking us to consider anew our commitment to the care of every soul. Do we really have this care for every person's destiny, or only for some? Should we not allow the offender to live and provide him or her every opportunity to repent, convert, and find salvation?

May St. Paul intercede for us, that we may have the grace to imitate the early Church in their acceptance of Paul.