Something Cool I Came Across

"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it." - John 12:47


"Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son" - John 5:22


Seems contradictory right? Well, it did to me too, but the reason for this makes sense and seemed, at least to me, to be fairly obvious once I found the answer and understood it. We see, in the first verse, that Jesus is not a judge. Then we see that God has entrusted all judgment to Him. How can Jesus, who doesn't judge, be the conductor of all judgment? Well, as usual, it is all in the context. 


Jesus, when He first came to Earth, did not come to judge. It clearly states that in John 12 and in John 8 with the women caught in adultery: "Has no one condemned you . . . Then neither do I condemn you . . . Go and leave your life of sin." Jesus did not come to judge, but rather to save sinners and bring people to Him. 


However, there will be a day when Jesus returns to Earth: "And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (Hebrews 9:27-28). When Christ returns, that is when He will judge. If you continue on in John 5, it states, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:22-29). The judgment we see of Christ is the authority given to him by God, the authority to judge in man's final days, whether in death or Christ's return. 


Did Christ come to Earth over 2000 years ago to judge? No; He came to save it because "[He] so loved the world." But there is a day coming when He will judge, and rightfully so. That judgment hasn't come yet, and it certainly didn't start this evening at 6PM, but it will one day. A part of me wishes the rapture would have started today; rather, most of me wishes it. You know why?
“No eye has seen, 
no ear has heard, 
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"
1 Corinthians 2:9

Context is pretty important my friends - please don't forget that.