Jesus, Our Judge
by Austin Kopack
This past Sunday, we looked at Luke chapter 12 in which Jesus contrasts two objects of human striving: wealth and the kingdom. This contrast highlights two things: being divided in our allegiances, which leads to anxiety about the future, and living in faith in the present as we wholehearted pursue Christ. You can listen to the sermon here and watch the full service here on Facebook live. I also addressed the practical questions, "Does this mean God is always going to provide for us?” And "How do I know when to be generous and when to save for the future?”
Now, I want to briefly address another follow up question we received:
In v.14 Jesus says, "Man, who made me a judge and arbitrator over you?". Yet Jesus is God, and our rightful judge; why do you think then that this is Jesus' response?
I think Jesus’ response to this man is really more of a non-response, like when he asks “whose image” is on a denarius. First, it is true that Jesus is the final judge of all creation:
In Jesus’ own words:
For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. (John 5:22-23)
And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. (Acts 10:42)
And in the Apostle Paul’s words:
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead. (2 Tim 4:1)
I could give many other examples. However, in this passage in Luke, Jesus is redirecting this man’s priorities away from acquiring more temporary earthly goods, the kind of judge he is looking for, to the kingdom of God which actually demands far more from him than he stands to gain from this inheritance; it demands his whole life. Just like people wanted Jesus to weigh-in on paying taxes, his response is basically, “You’re missing the point!” I think many of the questions that plague the church today regarding politics and culture fall into a similar error. It's not that they are completely irrelevant. But when they take center-stage, we end up missing the main point of the Gospel. As N.T. Wright says, the kingdom of God is differently political. It does not just impact a few hot button issues or cultural debates; it changes everything. It challenges all of our ideologies and assumptions. It demands our whole lives in service of God and neighbor.
An additional comment on how to think about what it means for Jesus to be judge: Jesus’ judgment must be characterized precisely by the rest of his life and ministry as the true revelation of God. This looked like opposing religious elitism, lifting up the meek and oppressed, washing feet as a servant, and ultimately going to the cross. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). If we divorce these two, we end up projecting our views of an angry (or unmoved disinterested) judge onto Jesus. Whatever it means that Jesus is going to be the judge of the living and the dead, it cannot be disconnected or isolated from his role as the suffering servant savior, and that is very good news for all of us sinners.