In the first session of our Justice, Kindness, and Humility Bible Study, our speaker calls up an image from Handel's Messiah that I think is fitting to reflect on as we prepare for Holy Week. In teaching us about a biblical theology of justice, the Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero refers to the movement "Ev'ry valley shall be exalted," which in turn quotes Isaiah 40:3-4: "A voice of one calling: 'In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.'"

Dr. Salguero says, "The image of justice of the prophets is to create a plane where every single man, woman, and child created in the image of God is on equal footing before God and before the lamb and before the throne. The problem is that mountains resist being leveled, and valleys are hard to fill in." The Bible Project created a short video on Justice that I think illustrates this idea beautifully.

I love this imagery of all people being on level ground before God, and that's exactly what Jesus gives us at the foot of the cross. By paying the penalty for our sins on the cross and imparting his righteousness to us, Jesus puts us all on equal footing before God. Not on our own merit, but on His.

When we seek to give voice to the marginalized and dismantle systems of oppression, we are raising up the valleys and making the mountains low. We're creating level ground for all of God's image bearers. I hope that as you reflect on the gift of Christ's death and resurrection this week, that you will find meaning in this image of justice.