John 5

"For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgement to the Son...

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death into life...

..."As I hear, I judge; and My judgement is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me." John 5:22, 24, 30

In order for there to be such a thing as judgement, there must be a standard, something to be measured against. The ultimate standard is to do God's will. "Do not eat from this tree." The first standard, law, command that, once broken, lead humaniity down the path of choosing our own will over that of God. Then came the Law. But the Law couldn't save us. It could only serve to show us in a more tangible way how we do not measure up to the standard God has for us. The Law was co-opted by the religious leaders and turned into merely a bunch of external rules to be kept unto itself to prove by their unrighteous judgement a man's "holiness" rather than as an instrument for discerning what is God's will for how we should live our lives. Was God's will really that a person not carry any furniture or that nobody be healed on a Sabbath? Did walking further than the laws perscribed, as interpreted by the religious leaders, accurately reflect how inclined towards God a man's heart was?

Jesus, fully God, fully man. His judgement is righteous because as God, He knows what the Father's will is and as man, He lived it out perfectly. Who better to be a judge, knowing both the standard of God and the temptations of sin that pull at the flesh. But He didn't just live out the perfect life and turn around and say to us, "See, it can be done so now you do it." He offered up His perfect, sinless life for mine full of disgusting, twisted, evil, currupt, sinful, rebelious, darkness. My sin on Him as he hangs on the cross and while His righteousness covers me. All any of us need to do is hear His words and believe. He's really getting a raw deal if you ask me. Look at Him on the Cross. Stare. Don't avert your eyes. Take a good, long look.....



So, so unworthy of His mercy and love. So very deserving of His judgement and condemnation. I am completely unable to fully grasp it. In my pitiful state I find it impossible to accept... nearly.