Introduction
This article weaves together Psalm 99:4, the Mosaic Passover, and Christ’s teaching in Matthew 25:40, while also giving a historical and civic explanation of Juneteenth as an honorable federal and national holiday.
The official name of the holiday is Juneteenth National Independence Day. I will refer to it as Juneteenth. Indeed, I think it would have been better if the name of the holiday had simply been Juneteenth. Inclusion of the words National Independence was unwise and intentionally or unintentionally draws confusion and conflict with the July 4th Independence Day. Those holidays serve two different purposes and should not be any source of competition, confusion or conflict. Juneteenth is about freedom within the borders of the United States of America for a specific people, namely African/Black Americans. July 4th or Independence Day is about freedom of Americans of all races and America as a nation from outside forces, namely Great Britain.
I don’t believe any Black person proposed the name Juneteenth National Independence Day. I believe all Black persons would have been happier with the name Juneteenth as that is the name reportedly our people gave it. It is the name I have known it by since I was a kid. It is the name Black people know it by today. It is the name that it should be officially identified nationally and in every state.
A Biblical, Historical, and Civic Reflection
I. The Righteous Strength of the Lord — Psalm 99:4
Psalm 99:4 declares:
“The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.”
This verse reveals three pillars of God’s character:
- He loves justice
- He establishes equity
- He executes righteousness among His people
Any society that seeks to honor God must value what God values. Justice, equity, and righteousness are not optional virtues; they are divine expectations. When a nation acknowledges moments in its history where justice was delayed and then finally advanced, it is participating in the very character of God.
Juneteenth is one such moment.
II. The Mosaic Passover — Liberation Remembered
In the Old Testament, the Passover was not merely a historical event; it was a memorial of liberation. God commanded Israel to remember the night He delivered them from bondage in Egypt. The Passover meal, the blood on the doorposts, and the annual observance all served one purpose:
Never forget the God who breaks chains.
Passover teaches that:
- Deliverance is worth remembering
- Freedom is worth celebrating
- Oppression is worth confronting
- God’s justice is worth proclaiming
Juneteenth, in many ways, functions as an American civic Passover — a remembrance of the day when the last enslaved African Americans in Texas finally heard the news of freedom.
III. Christ and “the Least of These” — Matthew 25:40
Jesus teaches in Matthew 25:40:
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Christ identifies Himself with the marginalized, the oppressed, the overlooked, and the forgotten.
To lift up “the least of these” is to honor Christ Himself.
Juneteenth honors:
- Those who were enslaved
- Those whose freedom was delayed
- Those whose humanity was denied
- Those whose suffering was ignored
Recognizing Juneteenth is not political; it is moral. It is an act of national righteousness to acknowledge the dignity of people who were historically treated as “the least.”
IV. The History of Juneteenth — What Actually Happened
1. Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863) and the Thirteenth Amendment (December 6, 1865)
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring enslaved people in Confederate states free. However, enforcement depended on Union military presence.
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring enslaved people in Confederate states free. However, enforcement depended on Union military presence.
According to Archive.Gov, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”
The Emancipation Proclamation by Lincoln set off a chain of events that eventually led to the official abolishment of slavery within the United States of America by the 13th Amendment. Congress passed the 13th Amendment on January 1, 1865 and sent it to the state legislatures for ratification on February 1, 1865. The amendment was ratified by three/fourth of the states on December 6, 1865.
The related 14th and 15th Amendments were passed giving greater rights to Black Americans. The 14th Amendment was passed by Congress in 1866 and ratified in 1868. It granted American citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the U.S. (including formerly enslaved Black Americans), It granted all citizens due process and equal protection of the laws. The 15thAmendment was passed by Congress in 1869 and ratified in 1870. It explicitly prohibited the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
2. Texas — The Last Holdout
Between January 1, 1863 when the Emancipation Proclamation was first issued and December 6, 1965 word was getting out that Blacks were free. The slaves in the state of Texas did not get the word until June 19, 1865 despite the state of Texas having been sent the word about the 13th Amendment being passed six months earlier based on Lincoln’s proclamation being made two and one half years earlier.
Most slaves apparently received the good news on or about January 1, 1863 and began availing themselves of and celebrating their new found freedom. However, this was not true of slaves in the State of Texas.
3. June 19, 1865 — Freedom Announced
For some reason Texas slaves and Texas slave owners did not get the message or at least it was not delivered to Texas slaves and enforced by Texas slave owners and government authorities until June 19, 1865 when General Gordon Granger issued the order in Galveston Texas.
The fact that Granger issued the order suggests that the problem was Texas slave owners and government officials did not want to comply. This issuance of the General Order No. 3 did not occur until some two years after President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation Executive Order. The General Order No. 3 announced all enslaved people were free.
This day became known as Juneteenth — a combination of “June” and “nineteenth.”
4. A Celebration Born in Faith and Community
Juneteenth became a sacred cultural remembrance — a day of joy, dignity, and thanksgiving.
Freedmen in Texas immediately began celebrating with:
- Prayer gatherings
- Scripture readings
- Singing spirituals
- Feasting
- Testimonies of deliverance
Reedy Chapel AME Church in Galveston, Texas was founded 1848 as a worship site for enslaved people, later becoming the mother AME church of Texas. It was then known as a “colored” or Negro church on Broadway. Reedy Chapel symbolizes resilience and liberation. It was one of the key locations where General Granger Order No. 3 was publicly read or posted. It remains one of the most significant sites tied to Juneteenth and a focal point for Juneteenth events today, blending history, faith, music, and community.
The first major, documented citywide celebration of emancipation linked to Reedy Chapel took place on January 1, 1866 (Emancipation Day, tied to the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation). This is widely regarded as the origin of organized Juneteenth observances:
- Freed people marched in a procession from the old Galveston Courthouse (Central Square) to Reedy Chapel.
- The march included hundreds (reports say 800–1,000 men, women, and children) and was orderly, with Buffalo Soldiers helping maintain peace.
- At the church, they held a worship service and meeting with prayers, thanksgiving, inspirational speeches, addresses (including by Gen. Gregory, Assistant Commissioner of Freedmen), and a reading of General Order No. 3.
- They continued similar celebrations on June 19, 1866, giving thanks for their freedom.
Reedy Chapel has hosted annual commemorations ever since, with the modern events closely reenacting that 1866 procession and service (march + worship with music, prayers, speeches, and readings).
V. The Long Road to Recognition
State-Level Recognition
- Texas was the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday in 1980.
- Over the next four decades, nearly every state adopted some form of Juneteenth observance.
- By 2020, 47 states and D.C. recognized it in some capacity.
National Recognition
- After decades of advocacy by community leaders, pastors, historians, and activists — including Opal Lee, known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” — Congress passed legislation in 2021 making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
- It became the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.
Recognizing Juneteenth nationally affirms that the story of African Americans is not a side story — it is an American story.
VI. Why Juneteenth Is Honorable
1. Juneteenth Honors God’s Heart for Justice (Psalm 99:4)
Juneteenth acknowledges a moment when more though not enough justice finally reached those who had been denied it. It aligns with God’s love for equity and righteousness.
I say more justice because slavery was officially abolished and followed by a period of reconstruction where the nation began to repair its large-scale government sanctioned enormous inhumane treatment of African Americans. That included the promise of 40 acres and a mule to help newly freed African Americans get a socio-economic start in the capitalistic nation of United States of America. It was during the period of Reconstruction (1865-1877) that numerous African Americans AKA Black Americans were even elected to state governments and the national government House of Representatives and Senators. It is reported that 13 Blacks served in the US House of Representatives and two Blacks served as US Senators, both from Mississippi, during the 1870-1877 portion of the Reconstruction era.
I say not enough justice because the nation reneged on its 40 acres and a mule promise. Reconstruction ended. Governments began to contrive and sanction laws that effectively put many Blacks into a kind of unofficial slavery. Laws were contrived to imprison Blacks on things that Whites were not imprisoned for. Laws were devised to socio-economically oppress Blacks simply based on color of skin. This included things like separate water fountains. It included redlining such as charging more to Blacks for housing and forbidding Blacks from living in certain neighborhood. Even if laws were not on the books, Whites could discriminate against Blacks and the law would support that discrimination. It is known as the Jim Crow era. The Jim Crow era officially ended with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Racism has significantly decreased but not gone away.
Indeed, in 2014, I personally was discriminated against. I bought a car in 2014 in a city I was temporarily residing in. A couple of years later the Federal Government Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent me a letter. The letter said the Financial System I was involved with in purchasing that car had been caught charging Blacks and Hispanics a higher interest rate than Whites with comparable credit ratings. Notice I said 2014, not 1814 and not 1914 but 2014. Therefore, I personally know racial and ethnicity discrimination continues though process has been made.
I did receive a refund. Yet I wonder whether a young 19 year old Black man with a wife and young child might have been tremendously harmed having a higher monthly payment and overall cost in contrast to the lower monthly payment and overall cost of a young 19 year old White man with a wife and a young child. I do not believe such racist acts occur as much as they once did in America. I do believe the number of White racists is much lower than it was prior to the 1970s. Yet, I wonder how much harm was done to even a few Blacks and Hispanics considering the potential compounding negative effect of that over the years.
I once mentioned the racist act by that financial system to a White person. His response was our credit rating must have been low. I said to him if it was 700 it still means Whites got an advantage. His response speaks to the attitude some Whites have in wanting to claim racism does not exist but want to point all of the blame at Blacks. Therefore, I don’t deny the truth about such negative attitudes in some White people. We still have a ways to go to shape the attitude of both Whites and Blacks toward that more perfect union the preamble to the United States Constitution speaks about. A more perfect union that the Declaration of Independence envisions where it says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…
2. Juneteenth Mirrors the Passover Principle
Just as Israel remembered deliverance from Egypt, Juneteenth remembers deliverance from American slavery.
Both commemorate:
- Freedom
- Liberation
- God’s providence
- The dignity of the oppressed
3. It Upholds Christ’s Teaching About “the Least of These”
Juneteenth lifts up those who were historically marginalized.
To honor their freedom is to honor Christ’s call to see and value “the least.”
4. It Strengthens National Unity
A nation that remembers its wounds can heal them.
A nation that acknowledges injustice can correct it.
A nation that honors freedom can preserve it.
5. It Teaches Future Generations
Juneteenth provides a civic and moral education about:
- The cost of injustice
- The value of freedom
- The resilience of a people
- The responsibility of a nation
VII. Conclusion — A Holy and Civic Responsibility
Juneteenth is honorable because it reflects the very heart of God:
- Justice (Psalm 99:4)
- Deliverance (Passover)
- Compassion for the least (Matthew 25:40)
It is a day when America remembers that freedom delayed is not freedom denied — and that righteousness requires both remembrance and action.
To honor Juneteenth is to honor:
- God’s justice
- Christ’s compassion
- The dignity of all people
- The truth of our national story
And in doing so, we participate in the ongoing work of establishing equity and righteousness in our land.
