The Bible and Due Process.

Table of Old Testament Laws Reflecting Due Process

   When Jesus condemned Pharisaical authority, He may have alluded to the corruption of said laws here posted above. After all, they were written by Moses, as directed by the sole Author, the Holy Spirit. In a scathing rebuke of this body of elders and teachers responsible for the peoples care and protection under law, Jesus pronounces them guilty of corruption and deceit. They deceitfully omitted “the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy and faith, these ought ye have done” (Matt 23:23). Jesus honored the law by keeping it and by demonstrating its very purpose, to the glory of God and to the benefit of the people. But like the temple itself, the Father’s House, the law was corrupted by the Pharisees.

     I put these fundamentals of law in the table above to set forth basic tenants of Biblical law in respect to those who were given the authority of enforcing it and the careful proceedings in using it when in terms of the prosecution of others. They are easy to follow safeguards against the misuse of jurisprudence. You will notice that by honoring said laws many courts, even in our day, would have far less complaints and misuses of the practice of law; Lady Justice’s eyes might remain blindfolded and scales balanced so her voice could still be heard in our land - “Justice for all.”

     Jesus, who Moses wrote about, understood precisely the authority given to rulers. Not only to keep the letter of the law with reverential fear, but to be the authority of the law. Certain matters when there was no law, as in controversial disputes, (Duet 17:8), the Priests and Levites were given such authority that their sentences and judgments were final. “In controversy they shall stand in judgment” (Ezk 44:24). Jesus made mention of their authority in one place as “Moses’ seat” (Matt 23:2) and in another, “Ye are gods” (John 10:34), in which He quotes Psalms 82:6. These references are what defined these rulers as the very representatives of Jehovah. In each of these references the Lord condemns them for having corrupted this authority. Their words were God’s words, so long as His law was followed scrupulously. They claimed to be experts in the law, but actually “have taken away the key of knowledge” (Luke 11:52). (That Key may very well have been the Christ of God, the very Center Piece of the Law of God).

     What these laws were designed to prevent was circumvented by religious pride. A pride that replaced purpose. Pride of position and power within religion. (In the case of Jesus, they could not argue the guilt or innocence or even consider His case. It was a rush to judgment. They broke the letter and spirit of the law). Every case brought before court was to be heard. Moses wrote to “hear the causes between your brethren” (Duet 1:6).

     The Hebrew word “shama,” translated “hear,” can also mean to “hear intelligently” or to “give carefully, discern with consideration.”  This required honesty and equity for all. However, their approach was to defame and wrongly malign, as in the prosecution of the Lord. “In politics no crime actually needs to be committed to punish a person,”[1] such an unfair process is rooted in pride, not law. Since being power hungry they literally were motivated by a blind hatred. The Pharisees had no love, no righteous discernment, no compassion and certainly no fidelity to the Words of God. Both the Temple and the Word of God suffered under the corrupting influence of gold, or money, (Matt 23:17-22), and positional power. They had become lords or “masters” rather than the people’s “servants” (Matt 23:8-11). They gave rise to the infamous saying, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[2] They circumvented law for their own politics which in effect deprived persons “of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."[3]

     What is needed today, in our Nation, wherever a dispute occurs, an indictment is read and a jury convened, are men and women under whose obligation rest equal justice under law, with integrity, honesty and loyalty to God and Country. Otherwise, we repeat the world’s greatest failure and sin of due process under law when that innocent man, the Lord of Glory, was condemned to die.

Stephen Aquino 12/19/2019