Standard, Catalyst, Goal, Fruit

"Righteousness" and "justice" are such big terms in and of themselves, and such big terms in the OT, that I was at a loss to define them precisely for a long time. It finally clicked this way: "righteousness," zedeqah, is the standard which denotes "rightness" in relationship--I don't think it's much more complicated than that. Doing "right" by people. This is not just being nice or not hurting others; I think us modern Westerners tend of think of righteousness and justice as a matter of balance, giving everyone their fair due, making sure no one is excluded from having a fair shot at life--but that idea doesn't really make any great demand on any one of us. It's just a matter of leaving everyone else alone. "Righteousness" in the OT is more active, dynamic, and demanding: it is a kind of go-the-extra-mile love of neighbor in which you go out of your way to establish, maintain, and practice right relationship with them for your mutual benefit--a love of neighbor in which you do everything you can to enhance your neighbor's life before God.

Shalom is the goal of zedeqah: when the latter is practiced, the rich fullness of life denoted by the former comes into being. It is far more than a calm state of mind; "peace" in the OT connotes "my cup runneth over."

But of course a lot of life isn't like that--and the OT knows that. Mishpat, "justice/judgment," is the catalyst that gets life toward zedeqah. When right relationship is distorted, pain and loss and gossip and brokenness ensues; divine and/or human justice which renders judgment restores righteousness so that fullness of life can happen again. Righteousness is the standard, justice is the means by which that standard (to which we continually fall short) is maintained and repaired, and peace is the goal.

And this dynamic is true of God and man in the OT: see the echoes between Pss 111-112. The righteousness of both endures forever--amazing, the OT holds out the possiblity of us relating righteously (in life giving ways) in a way similar to the way God does.

"Translating" all these terms into NT categories is no small problem, of course. I'll leave that to better qualified people than me! But I was struck by John the Baptist's demand to Israel to "bear fruit in keeping with repentance" (Matt 3.8). That fruit is the result of right relationship--which God looked for in Israel, but did not find. The church isn't held to a lower standard.