Ever watch any of those television judge shows? You know, the reality show where a “judge” hears a case and renders a verdict, usually in a small claims court situation. According to Wikipedia these TV court shows have been aired on and off since the 1930s, but have been especially popular since the 1990s.
The earliest court show I remember is “The People’s Court” with Judge Wapner. More recently the popular judges on these shows have been Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown. The TV judges I’ve seen are usually tough, no-nonsense people who don’t take anything off anyone.
Generally I think we have a fear of judges. We view them as looking for ways to render punishment for something we did wrong. We also don’t like anything related to judgment. I think it’s because we associate it with punishment. And when somebody gets a little too close to the truth for comfort when observing our lives the popular retort is, “Don’t judge me!”
When we think of God as judge too often we think punishment and damnation. God is waiting for us to misstep so he can judge.
Actually judgment has little to do with punishment. The word simply means to distinguish, separate, or divide. With respect to the law it means to hear facts in a case and apply the law, to make a decision.
I think that’s what Jesus had in mind when he told the disciples in Matthew 25 he would return as king to judge. He meant he would separate “sheep” from “goats.”
It all began when Jesus left the temple in a huff after telling the Sadducees he was taking the kingdom from them and giving it to a nation that would bear the fruits of it. He went to the Mount of Olives where he told the disciples the glorious temple would be completely destroyed within their lifetimes.
Of course the astonished disciples asked for more information. Jesus told of the turn of events at the “end of the age” that would lead to the temple’s destruction as a catastrophic history-changing event. He gave them signs to look for, and then warned them to be prepared and to make profitable use of the time until that happened.
Like Old Testament prophets Jesus spoke of the upcoming destruction of the temple as “the day of the Lord” and his “return.” He would come in glory and the unfolding events would be the sign of his return. History would be altered as the kingdom would be removed from the Jewish state and given to a new nation. The disciples’ work would be the making of that nation.
Then, as he returned as the temple fell, Jesus would gather the elect from among the nations, that is, the people groups of the world apart from the Jewish nation. He would separate them as a shepherd separates sheep and goats. The “sheep” on his right would inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, and the “goats” would not.
The criteria? They had received Jesus in receiving the “least of these brothers and sisters of mine.” The scenario hearkens back to Matthew 10, where Jesus had sent the disciples in groups of two to herald the coming of God’s kingdom within Israel. They would perform signs and they would be subject to the hospitality of those to whom they went. If they were received they should stay there and minister. If they were not received they were to shake the dust, and punishment eventually would come.
Jesus referred to a similar mission to be now expanded to the world. They would go into all the world to make disciples. At Jesus’ “return” at the fall of the temple the transition to the world would be complete and the church would be off the ground. Believers who had received the kingdom message and its messengers would be the new embassy of God’s kingdom in the world.
It happened just that way. After the fall of Jerusalem the Jewish religious system collapsed. There remained the Pharisee rabbis who kept the faith alive, but the real action shifted to the church. Faithful disciples carried the church throughout the known world, so that by the the fall of the temple in AD 70 the church had reached the British Isles to the north, Africa to the south, Spain to the west, and India to the east. The church was chosen from among the nations as Jesus had prophesied. The church thought of themselves as “catholic” (universal) and “the new Israel.”
Here’s what that means to us. We are the continuation of that great movement, charged with taking the message of God’s kingdom to those around us who have not heard it. We represent its message and perform its signs. We are its embassy. We infiltrate, influence, and infuse. We preach, pray, and prophesy. We love, lift burdens, and liberate. All in the name of Jesus.
And we leave the judging to Jesus. We invite him to be among us, separating from among the world the “sheep” who will join us in inheriting the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 25:31-46 (Christ the King A)
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