The Promise of Justice

The Second Sunday in Advent
December 7, 2025
Matthew 3:1-12
“The Promise of Justice”

“In 1996, [Kristine] Bunch was a young mother living in Indiana when a tragic fire claimed the life of her 3-year-old son Tony. While still reeling from shock and grief, Bunch found herself the target of a homicide investigation. She was accused of intentionally setting the fire. ‘I couldn’t really grasp what was happening to me in the moment because I was in shock,’ Bunch recalls. ‘They said I was cold and unfeeling. Then I started to cry... Then it was about me crying too much…which was interpreted as I must be acting.’ Bunch’s emotional responses, scrutinized and misinterpreted by investigators, were used as evidence of her guilt. In 1996, she was convicted of murder and arson and sentenced to 60 years in prison. She would spend the next 17 years fighting to prove her innocence from behind bars… While incarcerated, Bunch dedicated herself to learning the law and working on her case. In 2012, advances in fire science proved that the evidence used to convict her was based on outdated, discredited theories. Her conviction was overturned and she was finally released… Slowly, Bunch began to find her footing… And she discovered a new purpose – advocating for others who have been failed by the justice system, especially women…Her story is a reminder of the human lives at the heart of debates around criminal justice reform, and the difference one person can make by turning tragedy into purpose. For Bunch, that means continuing to fight, to speak out, and to be a voice for the wrongfully convicted. She knows firsthand the importance of not giving up hope” (Kristine Bunch: A Woman Wrongfully Convicted Becomes a Voice for Justice Reform - Justice Reform Foundation).

The title of this sermon, “The Promise of Justice,” may be just that – a promise that we trust will be there when we need it when an injustice has been done. But what happens when that injustice has been disbelieved or disregarded? What happens when you do the right thing and step through the whole legal process, trusting that justice will be served and it is not? What happens when there is a miscarriage of justice? What then? How is God’s justice different from man’s justice? Today on this Second Sunday in Advent, our preaching series, “The Promise of Light,” continues as we look at the Gospel lesson and the message of John the Baptist under the theme, “The Promise of Justice.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

One thing is for sure about that fiery figure who prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah: you could love John the Baptist, or you could hate him, but you could not ignore him. His call to repentance exposed the sins of those who trusted in themselves: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:7b-10). John baptized people for repentance; to prepare them for that One who would come after him who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The call to repentance carries with it the promise of justice. Luke’s account of John the Baptist says this: “And the crowds asked him, What then shall we do?’ And he answered them, ‘Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.’ Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, ‘Teacher, what shall we do?’ And he said to them, ‘Collect no more than you are authorized to do.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what shall we do?’ And he said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages’” (Luke 3:10-14).

The kingdom of God which John the Baptist pointed to and prepared the people for, and which the Lord Jesus Christ inaugurated with his coming, is all about a turning, a change of heart and mind, a resetting of our own ways, which fall so short of God’s ways. Our own ways, our own justice systems, are imperfect at best, as Kristine Bunch’s story reminds us. Jesus came to bring with him justice and righteousness that are not just a promise, but a certainty. The promise of Isaiah in today’s Old Testament lesson (Isaiah 11:1-10) that promise a shoot from the stump of Jesse, a branch from his roots, speaks of a justice and a righteousness that transcend our sin and imperfection: “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins” (Isaiah 11:3b05). How can someone judge rightly, how can justice be served, if your eyes aren’t seeing and your ears aren’t listening? Is this not only blind justice, but also deaf justice? This passage points ahead to that One who executes justice and righteousness because he alone is God. He looks not on the outward appearance, but looks upon the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). This passage is all about our Advent Savior Jesus Christ.

In our pursuit of justice, it’s important to remember that God’s own justice and righteousness take our sin – the evil we have done and the good we have failed to do – with utmost seriousness. The justice and righteousness of God demand that the penalty for our sin be paid in full. That justice and righteousness require payment not in silver or gold, but in something far more precious: blood. This is the debt we as sinful human beings owe to our Creator God. All of those sacrifices upon the altar of the tabernacle and then the temple in Jerusalem, day in and day out, year after year, were substitutes for the people who offered them. Rather than pay the debt of sin with their own life blood, the justice and righteousness of God made provision in the Law of Moses for these substitutionary sacrifices (Leviticus 1:1ff.). But with the coming of that shoot from Jesse’s stump, that branch from his roots, there has been a once-for-all substitutionary sacrifice that atones for our sin (Hebrews 10:1ff.). The justice and righteousness of God have been fulfilled for us through the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all our sin (1 John 1:7). It is as we sing in the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper: “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us” (John 1:29). Jesus himself became that spotless Lamb of sacrifice for your sin and for mine. And so through faith in Jesus, we are declared not guilty. We stand acquitted before the court of heaven; set free. In Jesus, God’s justice is tempered with God’s own mercy. The promise of justice begins and ends with what God in Christ has done for us.

This side of heaven, there is always the risk of injustice. Our own earthly justice will be imperfect. Mistakes will be made. Innocent people will be punished and guilty people will get away. Even so, we seek with God’s help to pursue the promise of justice; to do what is just and pleasing to the Lord. Having received justice that is tempered with mercy, this side of heaven, we are to work for the promise of justice, especially for those who are oppressed; who have no voice and are the least among us. They also are people for whom our Advent Savior gave his life. As we do so, we wait for that day when there will be a new creation; when all is made new in the kingdom of our God. Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.