✨ Those Who Walk With Jesus — Part 12 ✨ Justice and Mercy
✨ Those Who Walk With Jesus — Part 12 ✨
Justice and Mercy
📝 Their Message (Summary)
This family turns to Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables as one of the most piercing portrayals of the gospel. Jean Valjean, the hardened convict who stole bread, becomes a Christ figure through mercy; Inspector Javert, the dutiful officer of the law, becomes a tragic figure bound by justice alone.
When the bishop calls Valjean “my brother” and freely gives him the stolen silver, he changes forever. Born again, Valjean begins to live a higher law — lifting, giving, and blessing all within reach. Javert, on the other hand, embodies the lower law. He is not evil, but perfect in obedience to justice: the law is the law, and Valjean must pay. Yet when Valjean spares his life, Javert cannot reconcile mercy with law — and takes his own life.
The lesson is stark:
Javert = Justice, the law of Moses, the Aaronic order. Rules, structure, worthiness by compliance, judgment without mercy.
Valjean = Mercy, the law of Christ, the Melchizedek order. New birth, abiding in Christ, charity that sees with God’s eyes.
The family sees in this story a warning. To remain at the Aaronic level — clinging to law, church organization, or ordinances as ends in themselves — is to risk becoming like Javert: rigid, self-justified, and blind to Christ. The true endowment is to abide in Christ personally, to be born again, to receive His mercy, and to see God face to face.
🔥 My Reflection
This post pierced me. I see so much of my own life in Javert’s strictness — trusting in the law, the rules, the organization, the outward works. I thought those things were salvation. But the law, as Paul taught, was only a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
Joseph Smith warned that when God offers knowledge and we refuse it, we are damned — halted in progression. Israel at Sinai shrank back from the mountain, preferring Moses to speak for them, and were cursed with a carnal law. I too have lived much of my life letting others stand between me and God.
But the bishop’s words echo: “Jean Valjean, my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I give it to God.” That is what Jesus says to each of us. His mercy swallows up justice. He calls us brother, sister — and sets us free.
The question I must ask: am I living as Javert or as Valjean? Am I clinging to law and ceremony, or to Christ Himself? Am I hoping the temple or church will save me, or am I allowing those ordinances to lead me to Him who saves?
🕊️ The Invitation
Do you trust the law to save you — or the Lamb?
Jesus Christ is the End. The Mystery. The Mark.
He is the true Mercy that swallows up Justice. The temple, the church, the ordinances all point to Him. But they are not the end. He is.
Ask yourself: Have I been born again? Have I heard Him call me by name?
If not, then endure as Valjean did — not in rigid law-keeping, but in offering all, until His mercy makes you new.
🔗 Walking with Jesus — A Family’s Story
This post is part of an ongoing series sharing the six-year testimony of a family who walks closer with the Savior than anyone I know. Read their words, feel the Spirit, and let Jesus meet you where you are.
Post #12 — Justice and Mercy
Previous: Post #11 — I Love Jesus
Next: Post #13 — (coming soon)
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