Peace Part III: Peace and Justice

As we talk about peace, one of the core themes in the biblical tradition is that of justice. We see this constantly in the cries of the prophets, who insist that peace for some at the expense of others is not real peace. We also see that for Jesus, peace is not some kind of naive niceness - Jesus calls out injustice and highlights the suffering and marginalisation of the vulnerable. In many respects, the injustices that threatened real peace in his time are similar to that of today. He wrestled with religious of power - the setting up of religious authority in a way that elevated some at the expense of others. He lived in the context of colonisation and a powerful Roman empire. And he grappled with a society that struggled with racial division and exclusion. We still have so much to learn from Jesus' vision for peace in the times we now live.