Tag Archives: Jesus as Judge

Forgiving/Retaining Sin

Eastertide

April 23, 2022

Scripture Reading:
John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ –John 20:19-23

Christ-followers are called to be the body of Christ in the world today. That is a breathtaking assignment, and Jesus knew that. So, Jesus breathed the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives to maintain our relationship with him. I am not sure exactly what John is trying to say about forgiving and retaining sin. Indeed, if we have the assignment to be Christ’s body that could mean doing everything Christ did. The Greek word for sin, hamartia, used here means missing the mark; hence: (a) guilt, sin, (b) a fault, failure (in an ethical sense), sinful deed * It, however, also describes the brand of sin that emphasizes its self-originated (self-empowered) nature – i.e. it is not originated or empowered by God*.  We can miss the mark every day and are wise if we recognize where we have missed the mark as quickly as possible restoring are aim with God and others. Having someone we can trust to help us address such sins is helpful.

I had to complete four hours of physical education in college. While I am a sports fan, I am not really good at any sport. The college offered one class that spent a few weeks on several different activities that were designed for those of us who needed encouragement in exercising. One segment was archery. I do not have the strongest arms and discovered very quickly that if I did not keep my arm very straight and taunt as I pulled back the bowstring when I let the arrow fly I got slapped hard by the recoiling string and rarely hit the target. It took a very patient coach to help me shoot the arrow and hit the target without bruising my arm. Walking with people striving to relate to God and perhaps serving as a coach serves others as a conduit to forgiveness of sins.

I think we must be very careful regarding our part in judging the retention of sin we deem to be an unforgivable act. We are all too human and I fear we are all capable of branding something as sin from a self-originated viewpoint. There is a lot of that going around in our world today. Jesus also said You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye. (Matthew 7:5)

Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of our desire to judge others from our perspective and guide us in helping one another follow the path originated or empowered by you. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/266.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Jesus as Judge

Living in the Spirit

November 19, 2021

Scripture Reading: Revelation 1:4b-8
John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds;
   every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
   and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

As I write this, I do not know whether Julius Darius Jones is alive or dead. He is scheduled to be executed at 4:00 pm this afternoon. There is much doubt regarding his guilt for the crime for which he was convicted. I wondered why a carjacking gone wrong resulted in a charge of first-degree murder anyway. However, District Attorney Robert Macy was well known for death penalty prosecutions. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency, but the Oklahoma Governor has the final say. He has been silent to this point. Julius Jones is black; the victim is white. I wondered what the results had been if the race of those involved had been unknown or if a white man had been accused of the same crime.

I understand that all involved will face final judgment by the one who freed us from our sins by his blood, one who was not guilty but was executed anyway.

Prayer: Lord, no matter what the results of this horrible reality are, let it be the stimulus to end the use of the death penalty in Oklahoma in recognition that final judgment does not lay in human hands. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Judge Jesus

Living in the Spirit

November 22, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Matthew 25:31-46
‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

I had an AHA! moment some years ago when I finally realized that God appointed Jesus to be my judge and everyone else’s judge, too. He even took the time to tell us ahead what his judgment criteria would be:

  1. Feed the hungry
  2. Provide water for the thirsty,
  3. Welcome the stranger
  4. Clothe the naked
  5. Care for the sick
  6. Restore the prisoner

The first thing that seems to be missing here is failure to obey laws. While there are laws in the Hebrew Bible that address each of these to one degree or another, Jesus is making the point that we will be judged on our active behavior regarding others, not on how we obey laws or even on how many times we worship or pray or study the Bible. Indeed, all these activities are necessary to support the work that we are called to do but they are not the work. There is also no hint of comparing any of us to anyone else. God knows our hearts and the potential that was instilled in each of us at our creation. We will be judged on how well we fulfilled that potential in loving one another.

Prayer: Lord, help us to honor you by following your example as you loved others. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Jesus as Judge

Jesus’ Ministry
February 24, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-38

 ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’ –Luke 6:37-38

We all have some quirky ideas about life and living. We probably do not think they are weird. My sister and I got into a discussion recently about some of our Dad’s unusual quirks and wondered from where they started. He did not believe in surgery, in cutting into human bodies at all. I never discussed it with him and doubt that I would have gotten very far if I had tried. Even though my mother did not share this opinion, when he died my mother refused to let an autopsy be performed because she knew my Dad would not approve. I guess it was a good thing that he never had a condition requiring surgery.

It is unfair to judge anyone for anything without the full story and God is the only entity who has the whole story on anyone. I suppose that is why God gave the judgement assignment to Jesus*. We do need a judicial system to ferret out the various civil and criminal issues of our world, but we must always understand that such systems are limited by their inability to know the whole truth. Such systems are opportunities for us to provide restorative justice to those caught in cycles of crime.  Our inability to know the whole story about anyone’s behavior is also the reason I do not support the death penalty.

Prayer: Lord, help us provide as fair a justice system as possible within the limitations of our knowledge of events that lead to crimes and to always provide restorative justice. Amen.

*Matthew 25:31-46

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Witnessing and Judging

walk-in-the-way-of-loveEpiphany
January 6, 2017

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43

We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’ –Acts 10:39-43

I recently served on jury duty. I was called on my first day to serve in a civil case; my service was short lived. I took it seriously as did the others. It was not a life or death case, involved discerning who should get paid for what. Based on the facts presented, it was a very easy decision. I am glad I live in a country that practices the rule of law.

I also praise God that Jesus Christ drew the assignment of judging people regarding God’s laws. We humans have a great need to take over that tasks from time to time. Life is about discerning what is right and what is wrong for ourselves with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We guide our children to help them grow into adults with the skills to make such decisions. When invited we might help a friend or relative work through the issues they face in discerning right from wrong, assuring that we have done our best to witness to God’s love through Jesus Christ. Life is rarely black or white. If there are any absolutes, they belong to God and Jesus’ discernment. While it is important that we model forgiveness in our lives, ultimate forgiveness lies in God’s domain.

It is probably easier to live in an ideology of absolutes rather than taking up our cross daily and walking the walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ with only the power of love to sustain us; it is what we are called to do. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Prayer: Lord, enable our love to spread your message through our actions as well as our words. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.