Christianity, Liberation and Justice

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Christianity, Liberation and Justice

Herb Montgomery | August 15, 2025

If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:

Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke. 

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing. (Luke 13:10-17)

The Jewish weekly Shabbat (Sabbath) is a sacred day of rest and spiritual renewal observed from sunset Friday evening to sunset Saturday evening. Part of the biblical creation story, Shabbat commemorates the seventh day when God ceased from creating and declared the day holy (Genesis 2:2–3). It is one of the central practices of Judaism and is both a commandment and a gift.

For some observers today, Shabbat begins with lighting candles to mark the transition from the ordinary workweek to sacred time. Then follow blessings over kiddush (wine ) and challah(bread), and a festive meal with family and community. Observant Jews typically share three meals over the course of Shabbat, and the day is filled with songs, prayers, and Torah discussion.

The essence of Shabbat is rest. Traditional observance includes refraining from work and creative activities called melachot, which include things like cooking, writing, or using electronics. This pause from productivity is not merely about abstaining from labor: it is about making space to be present with God, with others, and with oneself.

Shabbat is also a time for worship at the synagogue, including communal prayer and the public reading of the Torah. It provides a weekly opportunity for spiritual reflection, physical rest, and deepened human connection.

More than just a day off, Shabbat is seen as a foretaste of a world still future—a day of peace, joy, and completeness. In Jewish tradition, keeping Shabbat is meant to be more than an obligation: it is intended to be a delight.

There was an original justice component to the Shabbat as well. 

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

Think of the Sabbath commandment in Exodus in the context of a narrative about liberated slaves who are being re-enslaved by Babylon. Scholars believe the Torah as we know it reached its final form through a process of redaction and compilation during the Babylonian exile. It served a purpose much like the establishment of the 8-hour workday, which emerged from the labor movements of the 19th Century. During the Industrial Revolution, workers often faced grueling 10 to 16-hour shifts. In response, labor activists began demanding “eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what we will.” The movement gained momentum in the U.S. with nationwide strikes, including the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. Although progress was slow, the 8-hour standard became law for federal workers in 1912, and in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act established the 40-hour workweek as a national labor standard in the United States. The Sabbath commandment also has a history in a kind of labor justice. In the Exodus narrative, they are establishing a 6-day workweek. Notice that the Exodus Sabbath commandment isn’t so much aimed at employees as it is aimed at employers. It’s not telling employees to rest, as much as it forbids employers from denying their employees rest. In its original context, the Sabbath was about justice and liberation. 

But in our reading this week, the Sabbath had become an excuse to object to Jesus’ justice and liberation work. The Sabbath had become an obstacle to justice and liberation, not a conduit for achieving it. Mark’s gospel even tells a story about how folks were waiting for Sabbath to end so they could come to Jesus for healing and liberation:

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. (Mark 1:32)

This is a history often repeated: something that was originally intended to be life-giving evolves over time into a death-dealing tool oppressors use to keep oppressed people in their places, denying them justice, and obstructing their liberation. 

Can you think of other things that have followed this same evolutionary path? I love that this week’s reading shows Jesus liberating a woman in an act of transgression against the oppressive norms of his own context. He values the woman’s liberation as paramount. It reminds me of a passage in Peter’s epistle:

Above all, love each other. (1 Peter 4:8)

Above all. 

Provocative Black intellectual and philosophy professor at Union Theological Seminary Dr. Cornel West  has often said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” In situations where there’s a scale of competing values, we must esteem how we choose to exercise justice (the public expression of love) above all else. 

Our reading this week is about the tension between a person’s liberation and the way a religious institution (the Sabbath) was interpreted to oppose that liberation. The Christian faith tradition also has a long history of using its interpretations of our sacred texts to stand in the way of people’s liberation from injustice. Christianity has always had a dual witness regarding oppression: some advancing it, some fighting it. From the first generation in Acts to today. Some Christians have, Bibles in their hand, opposed the abolition of slavery here in the U.S., or women’s liberation from patriarchy, and the LGBTQ community’s work toward a more equitable society. Liberation and justice are deeply intertwined concepts, each depending on the other to be fully realized. Liberation speaks to the process of freeing individuals and communities from systems of oppression—whether political, economic, racial, gender-based, or religious. Justice, meanwhile, ensures that this freedom is not only achieved but sustained through structures that affirm everyone’s dignity and rights.

Historically, liberation movements have risen in response to injustice. I’m thinking of the Civil Rights Movement, Indigenous resistance to colonialism, the fight for women’s rights, and more. Each of these efforts began with a deep yearning for freedom but ultimately sought a more just society—one in which the systems that produced inequality were dismantled and replaced with equitable alternatives.

Justice is not simply the punishment of wrongdoing; it is the active creation of conditions where wrongs are less likely to occur. It involves redistribution of resources, access to education and healthcare, protection of rights, and the amplification of marginalized voices. Justice requires us to confront power and privilege, especially when they are used to exclude or dehumanize.

Liberation without justice can be fleeting. If a people are freed from one form of domination only to be subjected to another, their liberation is sham. Similarly, justice without liberation is a lie. You cannot have true justice while people remain trapped in systems that deny their full humanity.

Spiritual and philosophical traditions around the world affirm the essential link between liberation and justice, Christianity with its complicated oppressive history among them. The call to “let the oppressed go free” is not merely a metaphor; it is a summons to act in solidarity with the poor and the excluded. Our gospel must unequivocally state that justice is love made public and embodied in social, economic, and political transformation.

True liberation and justice require more than empathy. They demand action. They challenge us to listen deeply, to learn from those on the margins, and to use our resources and influence in ways that help us all reimagine a better world. It is not enough to hope or pray for a just society; we must build it, piece by piece, policy by policy, relationship by relationship.

In this sense, liberation and justice are ongoing journeys. They are the work of communities committed to healing, truth-telling, and the shared belief that another world is possible and a just, compassionate world that is a safe home for all is worth fighting for.  

Discussion Group Questions

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.

2. How does your practice of Christianity lead you to support justice and liberation, rather than stand against it? Share and discuss with your goup.

3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone? 

Thanks for checking in with us, today.

I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate. 

My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.

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Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.

You can watch our YouTube show each week called “Just Talking”. Each week, Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking. If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking.

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And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.

Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.

I love each of you dearly,

I’ll see you next week.

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New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast

A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice. 

This week:

Season 2 Episode 34: Christianity, Liberation and Justice 

Luke 13:10-17

“Our reading this week is about the tension between a person’s liberation and the way a religious institution (the Sabbath) was interpreted to oppose that liberation. The Christian faith tradition also has a long history of using its interpretations of our sacred texts to stand in the way of people’s liberation from injustice. Christianity has always had a dual witness regarding oppression: some advancing it, some fighting it. From the first generation in Acts to today. Some Christians have, Bibles in their hand, opposed the abolition of slavery here in the U.S., or women’s liberation from patriarchy, and the LGBTQ community’s work toward a more equitable society. Spiritual and philosophical traditions around the world affirm the essential link between liberation and justice, Christianity with its complicated oppressive history among them. The call to “let the oppressed go free” is not merely a metaphor; it is a summons to act in solidarity with the poor and the excluded. Our gospel must unequivocally state that justice is love made public and embodied in social, economic, and political transformation.”

Available on all major podcast carriers and at:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/christianity-liberation-and-justice

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Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.

 

by Herb Montgomery

Available now on Amazon!

In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.

Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.

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