Justice

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

JUSTICE 

Acts 23:31-35

31 So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. 32 The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. 33 When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. 34 The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, "I will hear your case when your accusers get here." Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod's palace.

NIV

We would think this is nothing but a travel record of how Paul was escorted from Jerusalem to Caesarea by the Roman army. Because of our findings, we conclude this was more than one day's journey. From the narrative we find all two hundred infantrymen,  two hundred spearmen and the seventy calvary men all arrived in Antipatris, which is about thirty-eight miles North of Jerusalem, a little eastward. It is doubtful that marching soldiers, with all their gear, could travel that far in one day. This was several days of travel and then all the horsemen took Paul the rest of the twenty-eight miles up to Caesarea. Again, even on horses, this had to take a couple of days. However, once the letter was presented to Felix, he was willing to hear Paul’s case once his accusers arrived. This is justice in the Roman way, which is how our system should work as well. However, this is not about the law, as we can see this applying in our personal relationships both within and without the church. The second issue, we already commented about is the commitment of the Roman commander to make sure Paul was protected from his enemies. This was not just a one-moment act of protection, but it was a sustained effort with his men marching for days to protect Paul because he was a Roman citizen. Because we are citizens of the kingdom of God, we have the Lord’s sustained protection upon us. This might seem difficult to see when illness, or aliments, come upon us, or when we lose a loved one. But that is life, however, our protection is from the schemes of the devil who is after our soul. Our protection is from the grave, although we will all breathe our last, and our bodies may rest for a period of time in the grave, as Jesus’s body did. But death where is your sting? Jesus won the victory over death, so we have eternal life. This is his sustained protection. As our personal relationships are similar to the Roman form of justice, it is about making judgments. Felix would not judge Paul’s case until he heard from his accusers, then knowing the facts. We wonder if we judge the actions of people, without knowing all the facts. Do we make snap judgments based on how someone looks? Do we use a bias when we see someone different then us? This is referred to as a confirmation bias. Do we hold any kind of gender bias? Do we use affinity bias to create little clichés, ousting all others, or banishing them from our friendship? It would seem God only judges’ mankind on whether he is in Christ or not. But then again, God knows all the facts, he knows every hair on our heads, there is nothing about us that God does not know. He looks at our hearts, so his judgments are just. His justice is perfect. Because we never will have all the facts, we should refrain from making any judgments about other people, for all we can see is their outside, their personality, their appearance, their behavior, and their words. So maybe that is simply not enough information to make an accurate judgment. So then it would be wise not to judge anyone because it is not just.