The Hebrew prophets repeatedly explained the tragic crisis their society was facing as the result of social injustice and oppression toward the vulnerable, marginalized, and disenfranchised. Notice how the book of Isaiah begins:
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This is Part 2 of the series Clearing a Path for Justice
(Read this series from its beginning here.)
“When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you, even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson.” (Isaiah 1:12-18)
The prophet Isaiah states that more religious rituals, more sacrifices, more prayers, and more religious gatherings won’t fix their society’s sins. What does Isaiah call for instead? Practicing justice and rescuing those presently oppressed. The oppressed people mentioned here specifically are orphans and widows. Why? Because in patriarchal societies, orphans (the fatherless) and widows (the husbandless) are the ones made vulnerable through their disenfranchisement.
The voice of one calling in the wilderness to make our paths straight is defined here as “seeking justice.” And this leads to John the Baptist. In Josephus’ works, we find a description of John that is worth our consideration:
“Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from God, and was a very just punishment for what he did against John called the Baptist. For Herod had him killed, although he was a good man and had urged the Jews to exert themselves to virtue, both as to justice toward one another and reverence towards God . . .” (Antiquities 18.5.2 116-119)
John was known for calling his own society back to practicing justice toward one another as an act of reverence toward God.
In Luke’s gospel we find the same characterization of John. There he calls for systemic change in the social institutions of his day. “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none” He called tax collectors not to “collect any more than you are required to.” And he told soldiers, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely.” (See Luke 3:10-14)
John critiqued the social institutions of his time and called for justice.
Josephus told us that John’s call of renewing reverence for God was tied to the virtue of the people practicing justice with each another. Justice toward one another is social justice. Social justice is merely applying the ethic of loving your neighbor societally.
John the Baptist’s ministry was rooted in a call to repentance, but the repentance he demanded, in contrast to purely a religious practice, was profoundly social and economic at its core. We’ll unpack this characteristic of John’s repentance in Part 3.
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