Jamin Bradley

In starting his career, God told Joshua that he needed to meditate on the Book of the Law day and night and do everything written in it without straying to the left or right. This will be an important task for this new political leader of Israel if he is to create a just and flourishing society.

But for many, this command feels a bit scary. For example, Inspector Javert in Les Misérables seems to be a man committed to the law like this, but it made him a worse person, not a better one. When we look at the law of Moses, we might grow even more fearsome of this predicament as it becomes clear that ancient people sometimes had a very brutal understanding of law and justice and an inadequate understanding of science and sociology.

But Joshua isn’t necessarily told to memorize the Book of the Law. Sure, that will naturally happen as he reads it repeatedly, but he is specifically told to meditate on it. If all he needs to know is what the law says, he can simply pull it out and check when justice issues come his way. But he is to meditate on it to embody and become the law. As he reads it, he’ll question it and chew on it until he understands why God commands the things he does. He’ll begin to see the social issues he didn’t see before. He’ll begin to understand why some injustices are more severe than others. He’ll see what was done in the past to address injustice so that he has an idea of what outcome he needs to design. He’ll begin to care about what God cares about and come to know his character. Eventually, he will not need to address the Book of the Law to make judgments, because the Holy Spirit will help him become this textbook.

Jesus is the perfect example of law and justice as a person. It’s clear from his preaching that he meditated upon the law a lot, but his interpretations of the law were Spirit-led. He didn’t simply memorize it, but fleshed it out with God until some of the laws became nearly unrecognizable. Jesus deconstructed the sacred law with great audacity, declaring, “You’ve heard it said one way, but I say to you another.” What motivated him to make these changes? The golden law upon which all the other laws rest: love God and love people. Law and justice are not lawful or just if they are not loving.

Jesus meditated on the law day and night with the direction of the Holy Spirit, and by doing so, he became the law. These are the kinds of lawful people we want to follow. For example, I was once at a court hearing where I know what the judge would have done if he had checked the books. But instead, he took love into account and ruled differently. How different the world would be if we all meditated upon the law rather than used it as a textbook.