Podcast Summary: The BEMA Podcast – Episode 489: Vice & Virtue — Justice

Date: December 18, 2025
Host(s): Marty Solomon & Brent Billings, with Reid Dent and Elle
Topic: Exploring Justice as a Biblical Virtue

Episode Overview

This episode explores the virtue of “justice” in the context of the Bible, offering a deep dive into text, prophetic tradition, and practical application. The conversation is shaped by recent grief over the loss of teammate Josh Bossay, whose life exemplified the pursuit of justice. The hosts challenge prevailing legalistic and punitive concepts of justice, juxtaposing them with the restorative, compassionate biblical vision. They advocate for a proactive embrace of the vulnerable as central to the Kingdom of God.

[00:00–10:07] Grieving Josh Bossay & the Call to Embodied Justice

• Opening Reflections:
  • Reid and Elle share personal grief over Josh’s death, emphasizing how embodiment, mourning, and creative acts help process loss.
  • Elle highlights three pillars of Josh’s legacy: justice, wrestling (with the text and life), and celebration.
    • “You can’t say Josh’s name without thinking about Shabbat. Wrestling is another one... and the last would be celebration. He embodied the party.” – Elle (03:23)
  • Reid: “He was so good at doing justice in a way that always made us all better when we were done. Never beat up... but I also knew that Josh was like, justice—who needs to experience God’s justice?” (08:38)
• The Tie-in: The episode is set up as a tribute to Josh’s heart for justice, encouraging listeners to approach the virtue in a manner that invites communal change, tenderness, and gratitude.

[10:16–15:12] Introducing Justice: Stories & Cultural Frames

• Storytelling: Brent tells a story about his son, Briggs, indignantly confronting his parents when they refuse to help a homeless man (12:10). The son’s childlike insistence for action reflects the prophetic impatience with “a world deaf to meaning.”
• Quotation: “How can you pray that God would take care of him when you won’t do anything to help?” – Briggs (13:47)
• Cultural Framing: Marty and Brent discuss popular conceptions of justice (vengeance, Batman-style justice), connecting everyday frustrations to a desire for “the scales to be balanced.” Yet, they signal that biblical justice “mostly has something else in mind.” (17:00)

[15:12–28:51] Justice in the Prophets – What the Bible Means

• Scripture Analysis:
  • Jeremiah 5: Justice means advocating for the fatherless and poor, not just criminal prosecution. (21:23)
  • Amos 5 & 8: Describes how taxation and exploitation of the poor, even when technically legal, are condemned as injustice.
  • Zechariah 7: Links justice with mercy and compassion, emphasizing the “quartet of the vulnerable”— the widow, fatherless, foreigner, and poor.
    • “To administer true justice is to show mercy and compassion to one another.” (26:36)
• Notable Concept: Nicholas Wolterstorff’s “quartet of the vulnerable” is introduced to frame biblical justice.
• Contrast: Justice is not just about punishing evil-doers (“legal justice”) but is a proactive pursuit (“restorative, social justice”) focused on elevating, incorporating, and protecting the vulnerable.

[28:51–44:01] Legal vs. Social Justice: The Biblical Center

• Different Types of Justice:
  • Legal/Punitive Justice: Retributive, reactive, focused on criminals, mostly administered through courts.
  • Social/Restorative Justice: Proactive, focuses on integrating the vulnerable; requires daily communal action.
• Prophetic Critique: Abraham Heschel is quoted at length, highlighting the difference between the prophet’s outrage at “minor” injustices and societal apathy.
  • “To us, injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people. To the prophets, it is a death blow to existence.” (34:16; paraphrased)
• Shalom as the Goal: Justice is the action that brings about shalom (communal wholeness), where everyone, especially the vulnerable, is integrated and thriving (41:51).

[44:01–54:58] Justice in Israel’s Calling & God’s Character

• Biblical Foundations:
  • Genesis 18: Abraham’s family is chosen to “do what is just and right,” blessing all nations (45:04).
  • Deuteronomy 8 & 10: Justice is core to Israel’s remembering God, and even more, to God’s own identity—He “executes justice for the fatherless and the widow.” (50:10)
  • Psalm 146: God is defined by both his creative power and his upholding of the cause of the oppressed, prisoner, hungry, foreigner, and widow (51:31).
• Quote: “Do we remember that him doing justice for the oppressed, the hungry, the foreigner, the fatherless, the widow—Is that something we are as loudly, as passionately leaning into as this is who God is at his very heart?” – Brent (52:02)

[54:58–65:13] Justice vs. Empty Religion

• Prophets’ Indictment:
  • Jeremiah 22: True knowledge of God is shown in “defending the cause of the poor and needy.” (54:17)
  • Amos 5, Isaiah 1, Micah 6: God explicitly rejects worship when justice is absent:
    • “I hate, I despise your religious festivals... But let justice roll on like a river.” – Amos 5, read at (57:41)
    • “Learn to do right. Seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless...” – Isaiah 1, read at (60:53)
    • Even extravagant offerings mean nothing without acting justly (62:08).
• Faith and Works: Discuss James 1:27— “pure and faultless religion is to look after widows and orphans” (64:10).
• Systems vs. Action: The limits of individual action are acknowledged, but inaction is critiqued as enabling ongoing injustice (65:13).

[65:13–74:50] Justice, Politics, and the Way of Jesus

• Political Entanglements: The episode calls attention to the ways justice for the vulnerable is often dismissed as merely “political,” countering with the weight of the biblical witness. (65:13; 66:28)
• Punitive vs. Prophetic Justice: Discussion of potential conflicts between legal justice and restorative justice (e.g., immigration enforcement vs. welcoming the foreigner at 66:42).
• Jesus’ Prophetic Stance:
  • Jeremiah 7: Paralleled in Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, where commerce and exploitation, especially of vulnerable festival-goers, are denounced (69:36).
  • Matthew 23: Jesus rebukes those who “tithe mint, dill, and cumin” but neglect “justice, mercy, and faithfulness” (72:30).
    • “You have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness... You strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel.” – Jesus, Matt. 23, read at (72:51)

[74:50–79:52] Practicing Justice Locally

• Practical Steps:
  • Marty asks how we develop habits of doing justice.
  • Brent recommends:
    • Find local institutions that care for the vulnerable: “Just go there and say, how can I help?” (76:31)
    • Tell stories of his family volunteering in a nursing home, urging starting small and local (77:32).
    • “Don’t worry about trying to solve the whole system. Just say, what can I do with an hour a week?” (78:47)
    • Justice is about daily, humble faithfulness, not heroic perfection.

[79:52–80:25] Resources & Final Charge

• Resources: Recommends the Bible Project’s “Justice” video.
• Community Challenge: Join with others in small groups or local communities to “do this stuff in community...we need more Briggses out there encouraging us to get out and do the things we should do.” (80:25)

Notable Quotes

• “To us, injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people. To the prophets, it is a death blow to existence.” (34:16, quoting Heschel)
• “Justice is the actions that bring shalom about.” (41:51)
• “Is that not what it means to know me? Declares the Lord.” (54:58, quoting Jeremiah 22)
• “Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” (57:41, quoting Amos 5)
• “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” (64:18, quoting James 4)
• “You have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness...You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (72:51, quoting Jesus, Matt. 23)

Key Segment Timestamps

• [00:00] Grief Processing & Josh Bossay’s Legacy
• [12:10] Brent’s Story: Briggs and the Homeless Man
• [17:55] The Bible’s Broader Vision of Justice
• [26:36] The Quartet of the Vulnerable
• [34:16] Heschel on the Prophets’ Rage (quote)
• [41:51] Shalom: The Goal of Justice
• [45:04] Genesis 18 & Israel’s Mandate
• [52:02] God’s Character as the Just One
• [54:17] Knowing God Means Doing Justice
• [57:41] Amos & Isaiah: Worship Without Justice
• [65:13] Political Complications and Prophetic Priority
• [69:36] Jeremiah 7 & Jesus Cleansing the Temple
• [72:51] Jesus’ Rebuke: Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness
• [76:31] Practical Advice: Start Local with Justice
• [80:00] Bible Project: Justice (Recommended Resource)

Episode Takeaways

• Justice, in the biblical sense, is far more than legal punishment; it is a continual, proactive embracing of the vulnerable, central to God’s character and demanded of his people.
• Worship and religious activity are hollow without concrete commitment to justice.
• The challenge is to begin locally, in small communal acts, refusing to let anxiety over the scale of the world’s problems lead to paralysis.
• The memory of Josh Bossay calls the BEMA community—and listeners—to embody justice with humility, celebration, and a willingness to “make other people’s problems our problems.”

For further learning:
Check the show notes for resources, including the Bible Project’s “Justice” video and ways to find or start a local Beema group.