Justice for All​—Will It Ever Come?

VISITORS to London’s historic Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court building, see on top a statue of a woman who symbolizes justice. In one hand, she holds a pair of scales, indicating that evidence will be weighed carefully. Her other hand grips a sword, to protect the innocent and to punish the guilty. In many other locations, you can see versions of this symbol, sometimes with “Justice” blindfolded to represent her impartiality.a

You might ask, though: ‘Does what she symbolizes, justice for all, truly exist in any land?’ In every land, of course, there are laws, as well as those who enforce them. And then there are judges and courts. Certainly, many principled men have tried to uphold human rights and to see that there is equal justice for all. Still, it is obvious that most of their efforts have failed. Almost daily, we see, hear, or read of corruption, inequities, and injustice.

Consider the example of one woman who was brought to court. Before her guilt or innocence was proved, the judge let her know that he would “take care” of the charge against her if she would meet him at a motel, evidently for an illicit relationship. Yes, those who are supposed to ensure justice have often proved to be corrupt or incompetent. Time magazine told of one state in the United States where three fifths of the high-court justices were accused of unethical conduct in aiding a fellow judge.

Moreover, when people learn of criminals who keep escaping punishment, many become quite cynical and find it easier to break the law themselves. (Ecclesiastes 8:11) Of the Netherlands we read: “Many of the Dutch blame politicians for encouraging permissiveness that engenders crime. Others accuse the courts, specifically judges . . . who continue to hand out minimal, sometimes absurdly lenient, sentences.” But our desperate need for justice includes more than correcting the law-enforcement agencies and the judicial system.

You know that in many lands a rich minority keeps getting richer, while the poor masses face economic injustice. Such injustice prevails when people, because of their skin color, ethnic background, language, sex, or religion, have little opportunity to better their condition, even to sustain themselves. The result is that millions are ravaged by poverty, hunger, and disease. While many people in wealthy lands benefit from advanced medical procedures, untold millions suffer and die because they cannot afford basic medicines or even clean water. Talk to them about justice! Theirs is cradle-to-grave injustice.​—Ecclesiastes 8:9.

And what of the seeming injustices that appear beyond human control? Think of the babies born with congenital defects​—blind, retarded, or deformed? Would a woman feel a sense of justice if her baby came forth crippled or dead, while other women nearby cuddled healthy infants? As the following discussion will show, such apparent injustices will be corrected.

However, at this point in time, do you not agree with the comment at Ecclesiastes 1:15? There a wise and experienced king admitted, from a human viewpoint: “That which is made crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot possibly be counted.”

An even more famous man was Jesus Christ. At Luke 18:1-5 we read his illustration of a judge “that had no fear of God and had no respect for man.” Well, a widow kept pleading with that judge for the justice that the law entitled her to. But Jesus said that the wicked judge aided her only because her pleading became a nuisance. So Jesus, you can tell, was aware that injustices abounded. In fact, he himself was later tortured and executed on a trumped-up charge, another gross miscarriage of justice!

Many believe that there is a God who is concerned about injustice. During a Mass in one Central American land, Pope John Paul II said: “When you trample a man, when you violate his rights, when you commit flagrant injustices against him, when you submit him to torture, break in and kidnap him or violate his right to life, you commit a crime and a great offense against God.” Fine words. Yet, injustices continue. Malnutrition in that country afflicts 8 out of 10 children under five years of age. Two percent of the people own 80 percent of the cultivable land.

So is there really a God who genuinely cares about such horrible injustices, a God who will even be concerned about the injustices that affect you? Will he ever see that justice comes?

[Footnotes]

To Whom Can We Look for True Justice?

“Will not the Judge of the whole earth do justice?”​—GENESIS 18:25, The Holy Bible in Modern English, by Ferrar Fenton.

1, 2. How do many people react to prevailing injustice?

PROBABLY you are sadly aware that injustice abounds. How do you personally respond to the prevailing lack of true justice?

² Some people react by questioning the existence of a just God. They may even claim to be agnostic. Likely you have heard that term. It refers to a person who feels “that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and prob[ably] unknowable.” Biologist Thomas H. Huxley, a 19th-century proponent of Darwinian evolution, first used the word “agnostic” in this way.a

3, 4. What is the background of the word “agnostic”?

³ From where, though, did Huxley derive the term “agnostic”? Actually, he was drawing on an expression used in another sense by a first-century lawyer, the apostle Paul. It occurred in one of the most famous speeches ever. This speech is relevant today, for it offers us a sound basis for knowing how and when justice for all will prevail and, even more, how we personally can benefit from it.

⁴ The word “agnostic” (“unknown”) was taken from Paul’s mention of an altar on which was inscribed “To an Unknown God.” That brief speech was recorded by the physician Luke in the 17th chapter of Acts the historical book Acts of Apostles. The chapter first shows how Paul came to be in Athens. In the accompanying box (page 6), you can read Luke’s introductory information and the text of the entire speech.

5. What was the setting in which Paul gave his speech to the Athenians? (Have Acts 17:16-31 read.)

⁵ Paul’s speech is indeed powerful and deserving of our careful consideration. Surrounded as we are by gross injustices, we can learn much from it. First note the setting, which you can read at Acts 17:16-21. The Athenians were proud to live in a famous center of learning, where Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle had taught. Athens was also a very religious city. All around him Paul could see idols​—those of the war god Ares, or Mars; of Zeus; of Aesculapius, the god of medicine; of the violent sea-god, Poseidon; of Dionysus, Athena, Eros, and others.

6. How does your area compare with what Paul found in Athens?

⁶ What, though, if Paul inspected your town or area? He might see plenty of idols or religious statues, even in the lands of Christendom. Elsewhere, he could see more. One guidebook says: “Indian gods, unlike their fickle Greek ‘brothers,’ are monogamous, and some of the most impressive powers were assigned to their female consorts . . . There are, without exaggeration, millions of gods dealing with all forms of life and nature.”

7. What were the ancient Greek gods like?

⁷ Many Greek gods were depicted as petty and very immoral. Their conduct would be shameful for mortals, yes, criminal in most lands today. You have every reason to wonder, then, what kind of justice the Greeks back then might have expected from such gods. Still, Paul saw that the Athenians were especially devoted to them. Filled with righteous convictions, he began to explain the elevated truths of genuine Christianity.

A Challenging Audience

8. (a) What beliefs and views marked the Epicureans? (b) What did the Stoics believe?

⁸ Some Jews and Greeks listened with interest, but how would the influential Epicurean and Stoic philosophers react? As you will see, their ideas were similar in many respects to common beliefs today, even ones taught to youths in school. The Epicureans urged living so as to obtain as much pleasure as possible, especially mental pleasure. Their ‘eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’ philosophy was characterized by absence of principle and virtue. (1 Corinthians 15:32) They did not believe that gods created the universe; instead, they held that life came about by accident in a mechanical universe. Furthermore, the gods were not interested in men. What of the Stoics? They stressed logic, believing that matter and force were elemental principles in the universe. Stoics imagined an impersonal deity, rather than believing in God as a Person. They also felt that fate governed human affairs.

9. Why was Paul’s situation a challenging one in which to preach?

⁹ How did such philosophers respond to Paul’s public teaching? Curiosity mixed with mental arrogance was an Athenian trait then, and these philosophers began to argue with Paul. Finally, they took him to the Areopagus. Above Athens’ marketplace, but below the towering Acropolis, was a rocky hill named for the god of war, Mars, or Ares, hence Mars’ Hill, or the Areopagus. In ancient times, a court or council met there. Paul may well have been taken to a court of justice, perhaps assembled with a view of the impressive Acropolis and its famous Parthenon as well as other temples and statues. Some think that the apostle was at risk because Roman law forbade introducing new gods. But even if Paul was taken to the Areopagus merely to clarify his beliefs or to display whether he was a qualified teacher, he faced a formidable audience. Could he expound his vital message without alienating them?

10. How did Paul use tact in introducing his information?

¹⁰ Observe from Acts 17:22, 23 with what tact and wisdom Paul began. When he acknowledged how religious the Athenians were and how many idols they had, some of his listeners may have taken it as a compliment. Rather than attack their polytheism, Paul focused on an altar that he had seen, one dedicated “To an Unknown God.” Historical evidence shows that such altars existed, which should strengthen our confidence in Luke’s account. Paul used this altar as a springboard. The Athenians prized knowledge and logic. Still, they admitted that there was a god that was to them “unknown” (Greek, aʹgno·stos). It was only logical, then, that they should allow Paul to explain him to them. Nobody could find fault with that reasoning, could he?

Is God Unknowable?

11. In what way did Paul get his audience to think about the true God?

¹¹ Well, what was this “unknown God” like? “The God” made the world and everything in it. No man would deny that the universe exists, that the plants and animals exist, that we humans exist. The power and intelligence, yes, wisdom, manifested in all of this pointed to its being the product of a wise and powerful Creator, rather than of chance. Actually, Paul’s line of reasoning is even more valid in our time.​—Revelation 4:11; 10:6.

12, 13. What modern evidence supports the point Paul made?

¹² Not long ago, in the book In the Centre of Immensities, British astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell wrote about the extreme complexity of the simplest life-forms on earth. He also discussed whether such life would likely have occurred by accident. His conclusion: “The probability of . . . a chance occurrence leading to the formation of one of the smallest protein molecules is unimaginably small. Within the boundary conditions of time and space which we are considering it is effectively zero.”

¹³ Or consider the other extreme​—our universe. Astronomers have used electronic devices to study its origin. What have they found? In God and the Astronomers, Robert Jastrow wrote: “Now we see how the astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world.” “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians [persons believing in creation] who have been sitting there for centuries.”​—Compare Psalm 19:1.

14. What logic supported Paul’s statement about God’s not dwelling in man-made temples?

¹⁴ We can thus see how accurate Paul’s comment was at Acts 17:24, which leads us to his next thought, in Acts 17 verse 25. The powerful God who could make “the world and all the things in it” is certainly greater than the material universe. (Hebrews 3:4) So it would not be reasonable to think that he would be limited to dwelling in temples, particularly those built by men who admitted publicly that he was “unknown” to them. What a powerful point to make to philosophers who might at that very moment have been glancing up at the many temples just above!​—1 Kings 8:27; Isaiah 66:1.

15. (a) Why would Athena have been on the minds of Paul’s audience? (b) That God is the Giver should lead to what conclusion?

¹⁵ Likely, Paul’s listeners had rendered devotion on the Acropolis to one of the statues of their patron goddess, Athena. The revered Athena in the Parthenon was of ivory and gold. Another statue of Athena stood 70 feet [20 m] high and could be seen from ships at sea. And it was said that the idol known as Athena Polias fell from heaven; people regularly brought a new handmade robe for it. Yet, if the God whom those men did not know was the highest One and had created the universe, why would he need to be attended to with things that men might bring? He gives what we need: our “life,” the “breath” we need to sustain it, and “all things,” including the sun, the rain, and the fertile ground where our food grows. (Acts 14:15-17; Matthew 5:45) He is the Giver, men the receivers. Certainly the Giver is not dependent on the receivers.

From One Man​—Everyone

16. What claim did Paul make about man’s origin?

¹⁶ Next, in Acts 17:26, Paul set out a truth that many people should think about, especially with so much racial injustice in evidence today. He said that the Creator “made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.” The idea that the human race was a unity or brotherhood (with the implications of this for justice) was something for those men to consider because the Athenians had claimed that they had a special origin that set them apart from the rest of mankind. Paul, however, accepted the Genesis account of a first man, Adam, who became the progenitor of all of us. (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49) You might wonder, though: ‘Can such a concept be sustained in our modern scientific era?’

17. (a) How does some modern evidence point in the same direction as Paul did? (b) What bearing does this have on justice?

¹⁷ The theory of evolution suggests that man evolved in various places and types. But early last year, Newsweek devoted its science section to “The Search for Adam and Eve.” It focused on recent developments in the field of genetics. While, as we would expect, not all scientists agree, the emerging picture points to the conclusion that all humans have a common genetic ancestor. Since, as the Bible long ago said, all of us are brothers, should there not be justice for all? Should not all of us be entitled to impartial treatment no matter what our skin color, hair type, or other surface characteristics? (Genesis 11:1; Acts 10:34, 35) We still need to know, though, how and when justice will come for mankind.

18. What basis was there for Paul’s statement about God’s dealings with men?

¹⁸ Well, in Acts 17 verse 26, Paul pointed out that the Creator could be expected to have a will, or just purpose, for mankind. The apostle knew that when God had dealt with the nation of Israel, He decreed where they should live and how other nations could treat them. (Exodus 23:31, 32; Numbers 34:1-12; Deuteronomy 32:49-52) Of course, Paul’s audience might proudly have applied his comments primarily to themselves. In fact, whether they knew it or not, Jehovah God had prophetically expressed his will about the time, or point in history, when Greece would be the fifth great world power. (Daniel 7:6; 8:5-8, 21; 11:2, 3) Since this One can even maneuver nations, is it not reasonable that we should want to learn of him?

19. Why is Paul’s point at Acts 17:27 a reasonable one?

¹⁹ It is not as if God has left us ignorant of him, groping about blindly. He gave the Athenians and us a basis for learning about him. At Romans 1:20 Paul later wrote: “[God’s] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship.” Hence, God is really not that far off from us if we want to find him and learn about him.​—Acts 17:27.

20. How is it true that by God “we have life and move and exist”?

²⁰ Appreciation should motivate us to do so, as Acts 17:28 suggests. God has given us life. Actually, we have more than simple life in the sense that a tree has life. We, and most animals, have the higher living capacity of being able to move about. Are we not happy for that? But Paul takes the matter further. We exist as intelligent beings with personalities. Our God-given brains enable us to think, to grasp abstract principles (such as true justice), and to hope​—yes, to look to the future outworking of God’s will. As you can appreciate, Paul must have realized that this would be a lot for the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers to accept. To aid them, he quoted some Greek poets whom they knew and respected, which poets had similarly said: “For we are also his progeny.”

21. Our being God’s progeny should affect us in what way?

²¹ If people appreciate that we are the progeny, or product, of God the Most High, it is only fitting for them to look to him for direction on how to live. You have to admire Paul’s boldness, as he stood almost in the shadow of the Acropolis. He courageously reasoned that our Creator is certainly grander than any man-made statue, even the gold-and-ivory one in the Parthenon. All of us who accept Paul’s statement must likewise agree that God is not like any of the idols worshiped by people today.​—Isaiah 40:18-26.

22. How is repentance involved in our receiving justice?

²² This is not merely a technical point for one to accept mentally while continuing to live as before. Paul made that clear in Acts 17 verse 30: “True, God has overlooked the times of such ignorance [of imagining that God is like a puny idol or would accept worship through such], yet now he is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent.” Thus, as he built up to his forceful conclusion, Paul presented a startling point​—repentance! So if we are looking to God for true justice, it means that we will have to repent. What does that require of us? And how is God going to provide justice for all?

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 6]

Justice for All​—Acts, Chapter 17

“16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit within him came to be irritated at beholding that the city was full of idols. 17 Consequently he began to reason in the synagogue with the Jews and the other people who worshiped God and every day in the marketplace with those who happened to be on hand. 18 But certain ones of both the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers took to conversing with him controversially, and some would say: ‘What is it this chatterer would like to tell?’ Others: ‘He seems to be a publisher of foreign deities.’ This was because he was declaring the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. 19 So they laid hold of him and led him to the Areopagus, saying: ‘Can we get to know what this new teaching is which is spoken by you? 20 For you are introducing some things that are strange to our ears. Therefore we desire to get to know what these things purport to be.’ 21 In fact, all Athenians and the foreigners sojourning there would spend their leisure time at nothing but telling something or listening to something new. 22 Paul now stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said:

“‘Men of Athens, I behold that in all things you seem to be more given to the fear of the deities than others are. 23 For instance, while passing along and carefully observing your objects of veneration I also found an altar on which had been inscribed “To an Unknown God.” Therefore what you are unknowingly giving godly devotion to, this I am publishing to you. 24 The God that made the world and all the things in it, being, as this One is, Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in handmade temples, 25 neither is he attended to by human hands as if he needed anything, because he himself gives to all persons life and breath and all things. 26 And he made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth, and he decreed the appointed times and the set limits of the dwelling of men, 27 for them to seek God, if they might grope for him and really find him, although, in fact, he is not far off from each one of us. 28 For by him we have life and move and exist, even as certain ones of the poets among you have said, “For we are also his progeny.”

29 “‘Seeing, therefore, that we are the progeny of God, we ought not to imagine that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, like something sculptured by the art and contrivance of man. 30 True, God has overlooked the times of such ignorance, yet now he is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent. 31 Because he has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men in that he has resurrected him from the dead.’”

[Box on page 7]

The Universe Was Created

In 1980 Dr. John A. O’Keefe, of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), wrote: “I subscribe to Jastrow’s view that modern astronomy has found reliable evidence that the Universe was created some fifteen to twenty billion years ago.” “I find it very moving to see how the evidence for the Creation . . . should be so clearly stamped on everything around us: the rocks, the sky, the radio waves, and on the most fundamental laws of physics.”

[Box on page 9]

“The Search for Adam and Eve”

Under that title, a Newsweek article said in part: “The veteran excavator Richard Leakey declared in 1977: ‘There is no single center where modern man was born.’ But now geneticists are inclined to believe otherwise . . . ‘If it’s correct, and I’d put money on it, this idea is tremendously important,’ says Stephen Jay Gould, the Harvard paleontologist and essayist. ‘It makes us realize that all human beings, despite differences in external appearance, are really members of a single entity that’s had a very recent origin in one place. There is a kind of biological brotherhood that’s much more profound than we ever realized.’”​—January 11, 1988.

Justice for All by God’s Appointed Judge

“For the Father has affection for the Son and . . . he has committed all the judging to the Son.”​—JOHN 5:20, 22.

1. How do you face questions similar to those faced by some people in the first century?

HOW important is justice to you? How much effort would you put forth to be assured of receiving true justice and even of living when it prevails earth wide? You owe it to yourself to think about those questions, as did some prominent men and women in Athens, Greece.

2, 3. (a) What led to Paul’s call for his Athenian listeners to repent? (b) Why would repentance sound strange to that audience?

² They heard a memorable speech by the Christian apostle Paul to the famous court of the Areopagus. He first reasoned on the existence of one God, the Creator, to whom all of us owe our life. This led to the logical conclusion that we are accountable to this God. At this point Paul declared: “God has overlooked the times of such ignorance [as of men’s worshiping idols], yet now he is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent.”​—Acts 17:30.

³ Frankly, repentance would be a startling concept for that audience. Why so? The ancient Greeks knew of repentance in the sense of feeling remorse over some deed or statement. As one dictionary points out, however, the word “never suggest[ed] an alteration in the total moral attitude, a profound change in life’s direction, a conversion which affects the whole of conduct.”

4. Paul’s comment about repentance was supported by what logic?

⁴ Yet, you can no doubt see why such profound repentance is fitting. Follow Paul’s logic. All men owe their life to God, so all are accountable to him. It is, then, only right and just for God to expect them to seek him, to find knowledge of him. If those Athenians did not know his principles and will, they needed to learn these things and then repent in order to bring their lives into line with them. This would not depend on just how convenient it was to do so. We can see why from Paul’s forceful climax: “Because he has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men in that he has resurrected him from the dead.”​—Acts 17:31.

5. How did the audience react to Paul’s speech, and why?

⁵ That verse, so packed with meaning, so cogent, deserves our careful inspection, for it stirs up hope for perfect justice in our time. Note the expressions: “set a day,” “judge the inhabited earth,” “in righteousness,” “by a man whom he has appointed,” “furnished a guarantee,” “resurrected him.” Those words “resurrected him” brought a strong reaction from Paul’s audience. As Acts 17 verses 32-34 show, some mocked. Others just left the discussion. Yet, a few became repentant believers. Let us, however, be wiser than the majority of the Athenian audience, for this is of utmost importance if we long for true justice. To get the most meaning out of Acts 17 verse 31, first look at the expression: “He purposes to judge the inhabited earth.” Who is that “he,” and what are his standards, especially as to justice?

6. How can we learn about the One who has set a day for judging the earth?

⁶ Well, Acts 17:30 shows whom Paul was referring to​—the very God who is telling all to repent, our Life-Giver, the Creator. Naturally, we can find out much about God from his creative works. But his standard of justice is especially evident from another source, the Bible, which contains the record of his dealings with men such as Moses and of God’s laws for Israel.

What Sort of Judging and Justice?

7. Moses provides what testimony as to Jehovah and justice?

⁷ You may be aware that for decades Moses had close dealings with Jehovah God, so close that God said that he spoke with Moses “mouth to mouth.” (Numbers 12:8) Moses knew how Jehovah had treated him, as well as how God had dealt with other humans and with entire nations. Near the end of his life, Moses offered this reassuring description: “The Rock, perfect is his activity, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness, with whom there is no injustice; righteous and upright is he.”​—Deuteronomy 32:4.

8. Why should we take note of what Elihu said on the matter of justice?

⁸ Consider, too, testimony from Elihu, a man noted for his wisdom and perception. You can be sure that he was not a person who reached hasty conclusions. On the contrary, in one case he sat for over a week while he listened to lengthy oral arguments from both sides. Now, from Elihu’s own experience and from his study of God’s ways, what conclusion did he reach about God? He declared: “Therefore, you men of heart, listen to me. Far be it from the true God to act wickedly, and the Almighty to act unjustly! For according to the way earthling man acts he will reward him, and according to the path of man he will cause it to come upon him. Yes, for a fact, God himself does not act wickedly, and the Almighty himself does not pervert judgment.”​—Job 34:10-12.

9, 10. Why should God’s standards for human judges encourage us? (Leviticus 19:15)

⁹ Ask yourself: Does that not describe perfectly what we would like from a judge, that he treat each person according to his acts, or deeds, with no partiality or perverting of justice? If you had to face a human judge, would you not feel relieved if he was like that?

¹⁰ The Bible refers to Jehovah as “the Judge of all the earth.” (Genesis 18:25) Sometimes, however, he used human judges. What did he expect of Israelite judges who represented him? In Deuteronomy 16:19, 20 we read God’s directions that amount to a job description for judges: “You must not pervert judgment. You must not be partial or accept a bribe, for the bribe blinds the eyes of wise ones and distorts the words of righteous ones. Justice​—justice you should pursue, in order that you may keep alive.” Modern statues portraying Justice may wishfully depict her as blindfolded to signify impartiality, but you can see that God went far beyond that. He actually demanded such impartiality of human judges who were to represent him and enforce his laws.

11. We can conclude what from reviewing this Biblical information about justice?

¹¹ These details about God’s view of justice bear directly on the climax of Paul’s speech. At Acts 17:31 Paul declared that God “has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness.” That is exactly what we can expect from God​—justice, righteousness, impartiality. Still, some people might be concerned because, according to Ac 17 verse 31, God is going to use “a man” to judge all humans. Who is that “man,” and what assurance do we have that he will hold to God’s elevated standard of justice?

12, 13. How do we know what “man” God will use to do judging?

¹² Acts 17:18 tells us that Paul had been “declaring the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.” So, at the end of his speech, the audience knew that Paul meant Jesus Christ when he said that God would ‘judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and God resurrected him from the dead.’

¹³ Jesus acknowledged that God had appointed him as a judge who met the divine standard. At John 5:22 he said: “For the Father judges no one at all, but he has committed all the judging to the Son.” After mentioning a coming resurrection of those who are in the memorial tombs, Jesus added: “I cannot do a single thing of my own initiative; just as I hear, I judge; and the judgment that I render is righteous, because I seek, not my own will, but the will of him that sent me.”​—John 5:30; Psalm 72:2-7.

14. What sort of treatment can we expect from Jesus?

¹⁴ How well this assurance harmonizes with what we read at Acts 17:31! There Paul too gave assurance that the Son would “judge the inhabited earth in righteousness.” That certainly does not suggest any rigid, inflexible, and unfeeling justice, does it? Rather, righteous judgment involves tempering justice with mercy and understanding. Let us not overlook this: Though Jesus is now in heaven, he has been a human. So he can be empathetic. At Hebrews 4:15, 16 Paul touches on this in describing Jesus as a high priest.

15. How does Jesus differ from human judges?

¹⁵ While reading Hebrews 4:15, 16, think of the relief we should feel to have Jesus as Judge: “For we have as high priest [and judge], not one who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in all respects like ourselves, but without sin. Let us, therefore, approach with freeness of speech to the throne of undeserved kindness, that we may obtain mercy and find undeserved kindness for help at the right time.” In courtrooms today, it is often frightening to be called before the Bench. Yet, in the case of Christ as Judge, we can ‘approach with freeness of speech that we may find mercy, undeserved kindness, and help at the right time.’ Regarding time, however, you have good reason to ask, ‘When will Jesus judge mankind in righteousness?’

“A Day” for Judging​—When?

16, 17. How do we know that judging from heaven is going on now?

¹⁶ Recall that Paul said that God “has set a day” to judge the world by His appointed Judge. In anticipation of that judgment “day,” Jesus is doing a vital judging work today, yes, right now. Why can we say that? Not long before he was arrested and unjustly condemned to death, Jesus gave a historic prophecy that involves our day. We find it in Matthew chapter 24. Jesus described the world events that would mark the period termed “the conclusion of the system of things.” The wars, food shortages, earthquakes, and other distresses that have occurred earth wide since World War I bear out that Jesus’ prophecy is now being fulfilled and that shortly “the end will come.” (Matthew 24:3-14) Jehovah’s Witnesses have for decades been explaining this from the Bible. If you would like more evidence as to why we know that we are in the last days of this unjust system, Jehovah’s Witnesses can supply such.

¹⁷ Examine, though, the latter half of Matthew chapter 25, which is part of Jesus’ prophecy about the last days. Matthew 25:31, 32 applies during our time: “When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne [in heaven]. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Now look down to where Jesus tells the outcome of his separating, or judging, work. Mt 25 Verse 46: “And these [people whom he judges to be like goats] will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones [the sheep] into everlasting life.”

18. To what will the judging in our time lead?

¹⁸ We are thus living in a crucial time of judgment. Those ‘seeking God and really finding him’ today will be judged as “sheep” in line to survive the end of the present system and to enter into the new world that will follow. Then 2 Peter 3:13 will be realized: “There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.” That will be the “day” when Paul’s words at Acts 17:31 fully apply, the time for the earth to be judged in righteousness.

19, 20. Who will be affected by the coming Judgment Day?

¹⁹ That Judgment Day will encompass far more than just the surviving “sheep,” who will already have been judged worthy to enter the new world. Recall that after saying that his Father had committed judging to him, Jesus spoke of a coming resurrection. Also, at Acts 10:42, the apostle Peter said that Jesus Christ “is the One decreed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.”

²⁰ Consequently, that ‘set day’ mentioned at Acts 17:31 when God through Jesus Christ will “judge the inhabited earth in righteousness” will be a time for dead ones to be raised. What a joy it will be to see divine power exercised to overcome death, the meting out of which has often been the greatest injustice. Some people, as with Jesus himself, have unjustly been executed by governments or invading armies. Others have lost their lives to unforeseen occurrences such as tornadoes, earthquakes, accidental fires, and calamities of that sort.​—Ecclesiastes 9:11.

Past Injustices Solved

21. How will past injustices be overcome in the new world?

²¹ Imagine being able to see our loved ones brought back to life! Many will thus have their first opportunity ‘to seek God and really find him’ and will then have before them the “everlasting life” that can be the reward of “the sheep.” Some resurrected ones, as well as survivors of this unjust system, have been victims of apparent injustices such as congenital deformities, blindness, deafness, or speech impediments. Will such things fit in a ‘new earth in which righteousness is to dwell’? Jehovah used Isaiah to present various prophecies that will have a grand literal fulfillment during the coming Judgment Day. Notice what we can expect: “At that time the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped. At that time the lame one will climb up just as a stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness.”​—Isaiah 35:5, 6.

22. Why is Isaiah chapter 65 so encouraging regarding justice?

²² What about other injustices that now cause so much misery? Isaiah chapter 65 contains some delightfully encouraging answers. A comparison of Isaiah 65:17 with 2 Peter 3:13 indicates that this chapter also points to the time of “new heavens and a new earth,” a righteous new system. Still, what will prevent a few wicked ones from spoiling the peace and justice? A bit further on, Isaiah 65 puts to rest what might seem to be a problem.

23. For some individuals the Judgment Day will have what possible outcome?

²³ During this ongoing Judgment Day, Jesus will continue his work of judging individuals, whether they qualify for everlasting life. Some will not. After being given ample time, maybe even “a hundred years,” to seek God, some will show that they refuse to practice righteousness. Justly they will lose life in that new world, as we can see from Isaiah 65:20: “As for the sinner, although a hundred years of age he will have evil called down upon him.” Such ones judged unworthy of life will be in the minority. We have every reason to expect that we​—and most others—​will be delighted to learn and to practice righteousness.​—Isaiah 26:9.

24. What will the situation be as to economic injustice?

²⁴ Does that mean that there will be no ongoing injustices, not even economic injustices? Exactly! Isaiah 65:21-23 points to that fact: “They will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating. For like the days of a tree will the days of my people be; and the work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full. They will not toil for nothing, nor will they bring to birth for disturbance; because they are the offspring made up of the blessed ones of Jehovah, and their descendants with them.” What a change from today! What a blessing!

25. What is your hope and determination respecting justice from God’s appointed Judge?

²⁵ Hence, all who long for lasting justice can take courage. It is sure to come​—soon. Now, during the brief time left in this time of judgment, is the time to join with Jehovah’s Witnesses in seeking God and really finding him, with everlasting benefits.