Stephen De La Vega

Last week I wrote about injustice and anger that boils within. Today, I share a story about justification that was framed from injustice. It’s a story that many of us have heard in some fashion – a story that I believe we can all relate to if we will pause to hear it. It’s a story about a person who lived a life many of us would applaud, yet whom was killed by people of power. He fell victim to a system that may have been born of good intentions, but somehow ambled into a gait of arrogance and superiority. The perpetrators, in the form of an organized aristocracy and as individuals, didn’t like him messing with the good thing they had going. So, they plotted to slap a death penalty on a man who did no wrong. And they carried out their plot to the bitter end. May I tell you about this victim of injustice?   His name is Jesus. In many ways, we can say there are people in America and in other countries, throughout the generations, with the same story. Jesus was a victim of ...

I started writing this post before the killing of George Floyd . We were still grieving Ahmaud Arbery’s senseless murder . We cry, “Enough is enough.” We wonder when this wretched devaluing of life and livelihood will end. And we are justifiably angry. I don't normally mention people or current events in my posts. 'Always relevant' is my aim. But this is critical. It's serious. And it is, indeed, always relevant. I had planned to write about this topic before either of the two murders had occurred, so this is even more awakening for me as a writer. This is what I hold fast to and what I conclude from God’s sacred Word:   Everyone has value. Everyone is somebody. God cares about everyone. We should, too. When we hear about heartless killing, we get angry and we might even rise up and do something about it.   There’s a story about Jesus in John 2 where we imagine Him in a fit of rage. We imagine Him trashing the profiteering exploits of the wicked people who set u...