Someone recently told me they were befuddled about this question: How is it possible that God embodies both love and justice? This person saw a contradiction that did not make sense. But on the contrary, I assured this person, love without justice is not love, and justice without love is not justice. Today’s Gospel and our Kriya tradition offer us the perfect explanation.
To understand the relationship between love and justice, Sri Yukteswar reminds us, “All of creation is governed by law.” This law is not a set of arbitrary rules imposed on humanity by a god up in the sky. Rather, law refers to the organizing principles that sustain and guide creation toward its highest evolutionary end. These organizing principles are meant to guide societies, families, and individuals toward their noblest realizations. We do not serve these laws; they serve us. Life becomes destructively chaotic when these governing principles are ignored or violated. In this context, it becomes easier to understand the necessary and dynamic relationship between God’s love and God’s justice. Justice is the passion of Divine Love to set things straight, to heal what is broken, to establish fairness, to bring order out of chaos, to acknowledge the inherent dignity of all people, and to protect those universal rights God grants to us.
Now, let us turn to today’s Gospel from John 8:1-11: Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not commit this sin any more.
Fully embodying God’s love, Jesus does not condemn the woman at all. He loves her and offers her absolute fellowship with God. In a sense he nullifies her karma. Additionally, he guides her to live her life in accordance with heaven’s most life-giving principles so that she can avoid any future suffering. Jesus clearly demonstrates his profound love for her by marrying mercy and justice. This is love! Sri Yukteswar tells us, “Softer than the flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger than the thunder, where principles are at stake.”
Love without justice is not love;
Justice without love is not justice.
Jesus, may we always remember your mercy
So that we may extend it to ourselves and others.
