CoGro Discussion Qs (Jonah 1:11-17)

1. What is justice? Is it more than fairness? Can you point to some biblical verses that reveal what justice is?
   

2. Where does our desire for justice come from? How does selfishness and self-centeredness diminish our desire for justice? How do we restore it?
   

3. The idea of people getting what they deserve (both positively, as in wages; and negatively, as in punishment) is central to the biblical understanding of justice. What do people deserve as being made in the image of God? What about as being sinners?
   

4. Death seems a harsh sentence for sin. Why is that? Why does some sin seem like no big deal? What do we miss about the roots of sin when we think this way (see Luke 6:45; James 1:14-15; Romans 6:23)?
   

5. How does the cross of Christ satisfy justice? How does it provide mercy?
   

6. How does the mercy shown us in the cross of Christ change the way we treat other people who "deserve it"? How might we hold justice and mercy in tension?