Faith & Insight: Judgment and grace

I recently served as a juror, and one of my biggest takeaways was the seriousness of it. At the beginning I was excited, but by the end of the event any sort of gleefulness was gone as I realized the gravity of the responsibility that lies in passing judgment.

This was not watching a game show where talent is judged, or judging a good investment, or trying to be liked by our peers. This was someone standing before a judge, where the outcome of a verdict can change a life forever. For a defendant it is a vulnerable and frightening place.

Maybe it’s because of this that the idea of God as judge does not hold up well in our current culture. Sure: people say, sing, or rap that only God can judge us – but many of us do not expect that if there is a God that he will. Or at least, not harshly. But in the Christian faith the reality of God as judge and specifically of Jesus being the judge is the teaching of the Bible.

Whether you read this as a Christian or not, consider the ramifications of that. Jesus as judge. In one sense it’s comforting because Jesus lived the human experience and therefore understands us. But at another level it’s disquieting because no one who encountered Jesus ever walked away feeling like they were good on their own works and behaviors.

Peter felt guilty just being around Jesus: “Get away from me Lord, I am a sinful man!” Being with Jesus had a way of showing people the truth about themselves. From there you could ignore what he revealed or follow him.

But Jesus is judge. It’s easier to picture Jesus as the sympathetic advocate who bursts into the courtroom on our behalf to rescue us, not as the one who renders a verdict. But that is how he saw himself – “For the father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the son,” he says in the Gospel of John. He is the judge of the living and the dead according to Paul, and as the author of Hebrews says, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

His verdict will determine your forever. A British pastor once said, “You may think you can live fine without Christ, but you cannot afford to die without him.” It seems dark because it is, and we sense that in front of Jesus we will be guilty. Against this darkness the gospel shines brightly, because the judge invites us to come to his bench and ask for grace.

Grace, the opposite of judgment, receiving what we did not earn. Grace, earned for us by Jesus dying for our sins. Grace that is received not by earning it, but by putting our hope and belief in Jesus. Jesus is judge, and if you approach him for grace, he becomes your justification, taking your guilt and giving you his righteous life.

Gavin Jarvis is lead pastor at Living Stones Church.