You’re Looking for Justice

Bad news has a way of getting under your skin. Another headline about a school shooting or a war, and part of you goes numb because the stories come so often. Part of you grieves. And part of you wants to stand up and shout, “Will somebody please do their job?” 

A Woodside pastor recently admitted he once said almost exactly that, out loud, to a referee who wasn’t calling fouls in a rough eighth-grade basketball game. When the ref warned him that one more word would get him tossed, he shot back, “Then do your job.” Cue the walk of shame across the gym. 

It’s a funny story, but it’s also a familiar one. Most people look for whoever’s in charge (the boss, the school board, the courts, Lansing, Washington) and ask them to make things right. People may disagree on what “right” looks like, but nearly everyone agrees something is wrong. 

That’s the question hanging over John 18. Jesus stands on trial before Pontius Pilate, the governor who represented Rome, an empire that promised peace through conquest. Pilate asks, “Are you the King of the Jews?” (John 18:33). It’s a political question. He wants to know if Jesus is a threat. 

Jesus answers, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting” (John 18:36). That word “of” points to origin. His kingdom doesn’t come from here, and it isn’t built with the world’s tools of power, control, propaganda, and violence. 

And this King isn’t just one more contender. By Him “all things were created,” and “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16–17). The man standing bound before Pilate was the One sustaining Pilate’s every breath.

Contaminated at the Source 

Many Michiganders remember the Flint water crisis. In 2014, the city switched to Flint River water that wasn’t properly treated, and lead leached from aging pipes into the system. Families desperately wanted clean water, but until the system itself was fixed, it couldn’t deliver what they needed. 

That’s what Jesus exposes in front of Pilate. Any empire, party, leader, or ideology built on independence from God has a problem in its pipes. And the contamination isn’t only out there. Sin has corrupted every human heart, so the problem runs through the people inside the system, not just the system itself. 

It’s easy to ask politics to carry a weight it was never meant to carry. But handing people a God-sized job turns them into idols. It asks them for what only God can give: truth, justice, security, belonging, life. 

That doesn’t mean checking out. God’s people are called to seek the welfare of their cities (Jeremiah 29:7), and loving your neighbors means engaging thoughtfully. Politics just can’t be king. 

Giving Your Allegiance to the Right King 

Notice how you see your neighbor. Jesus summed up the law as loving God and loving your neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39). A contaminated system always pushes people toward division, and every algorithm and pundit is happy to help, whispering that the world would be fine without “those people.” If you can fill in that blank with anyone, something other than Jesus has captured your heart. 

Put down the world’s weapons. Using contempt, coercion, or propaganda to “win” for Jesus turns His kingdom into one more broken system. His followers carry different weapons: prayer and the good news of a King who loves people enough to heal what’s broken inside them. 

Let Jesus make you right first. That same pastor said he was so convinced he was right in that gym that he became what was wrong. It’s an easy trap to fall into. Humility means admitting you can’t make the world right until you let Jesus make you right. 

Join the Master Builder’s work. The world can feel like a bin of scattered Legos with no instructions. But Jesus made every piece, and He knows how they fit together. He invites you to join Him through prayer, local outreach, and everyday acts of love that give people a glimpse of His kingdom. 

The Throne Was a Cross 

Pilate finally asked, “What is truth?” and walked away from the only One who could bring real peace (John 18:38). Then, ironically, he hung a sign over Jesus’ cross in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19–20). 

It was the truest thing he ever wrote. The cross wasn’t Jesus’ defeat. It was His enthronement. Earthly kingdoms try to make things right with swords and missiles. Jesus made things right with a cross, dealing with what’s broken in the world by first dealing with what’s broken in the human heart. Then He rose, and no power can overcome His kingdom. He is still “making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). 

The urge to stand up and yell, “Will someone do their job?” may never fully go away. But the King everyone is looking for has already shown up, and He isn’t finished. 

So where have you been looking for someone to make the world right? This week, before you scroll, vote, or vent, pray by name for one person you’ve been tempted to see as an enemy. Then ask King Jesus to make you right first.