JUDGMENT
Prayer
Praying On The Journey With Christ
A Commitment To Encounter Christ Through The Gospel Of John
Object:
John 5:19-30
Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
"Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
"I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me."
COMMENTARY
The alliance and attachment between the Father and the Son is portrayed in functional terms, but that relationship is based solely on the love that the Father and the Son have for each other. In a simple factual manner, Jesus states the truth, "The Father loves the Son."
From this reality, all sorts of godly uncommon work occurs on our behalf. Jesus is empowered to do works to astonish us, to raise up the dead, to have life in himself, and to be our judge. There is an hour coming when all who are in their graves will hear the voice of the Son, and the dead will have no choice but to face the Christ as judge.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, it is far more comforting to think of you as our judge than it is to think of your Father as our judge. You have been here, like us, and you know how easy it is to go astray. You know all about the limitations placed upon us as people, simply because we have bodies, finite minds, lots of responsibility, busy lives, and tricky situations to figure out.
We are glad you are to be our judge, rather than your Father, even if we are to pray, "Our Father." Earthly fathers don't have the best reputation for being understanding and compassionate. Some of us know this from personal experience.
Lord Jesus Christ, sometimes we like to think of you as a soft-touch, a pushover, easier on us than some crusty old judge who pores over volumes of musty old books to find out a new way to penalize the guilty. We like to think of you saying, "That's okay. I understand. You did your best, and that's all I wanted you to do." We like to imagine you saying, "I'm going to save everybody anyway, so 'be happy, don't worry.' "
Yet, Lord, we have more than a nagging suspicion that these thoughts do not come from you, but from our enemy, who would downplay the importance of our earthly existence, take away the purpose of our struggle, make us forget the awful war that wages in heaven, and so blur right and wrong as to make judgment unnecessary after all.
No judgment?
What a relief that would be!?
(No, it wouldn't.)
What freedom!?
(Not really.)
No more fear of hell!?
(No more yearning for heaven.)
Lord, you are to be the judge, not a nonjudge. You are to tell us, one day, all that we did, and that thought fills us with a dread so deep that we cannot let the thought stay within our minds but for a moment. We know, intuitively, that we cannot stand before you on that day with anything but shame. We know that if we must say we're sorry, we will do so penitently, but we do not want to know what evil we have done to others; we do not want to know how our failures blocked others from you; we do not want to know everything we ever did that was wrong. We do not want to be judged by you, or by anyone. We just want to be forgiven.
Lord, we know we cannot earn our salvation. We know that we need you as our Savior. We know that the mountain of our sin is higher than the hill of our goodness. We know that we have no goodness at all, except what you have given us. Yet, knowing all this, we still dread that day of uncovering, that day of exposure, that day of nothing but sin to see. If you do not cover us up on that day, we shall surely be in hell.
Now that we have made these confessions to you, Lord Jesus, we hold on to the promise you made to all when you said, "I will be with you always." Be with us on our day of judgment. Love us as the Father loves you. And through your love, show us how wonderful the Father's love is after all, that we may thank him for you. Amen.
Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
"Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
"I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me."
COMMENTARY
The alliance and attachment between the Father and the Son is portrayed in functional terms, but that relationship is based solely on the love that the Father and the Son have for each other. In a simple factual manner, Jesus states the truth, "The Father loves the Son."
From this reality, all sorts of godly uncommon work occurs on our behalf. Jesus is empowered to do works to astonish us, to raise up the dead, to have life in himself, and to be our judge. There is an hour coming when all who are in their graves will hear the voice of the Son, and the dead will have no choice but to face the Christ as judge.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, it is far more comforting to think of you as our judge than it is to think of your Father as our judge. You have been here, like us, and you know how easy it is to go astray. You know all about the limitations placed upon us as people, simply because we have bodies, finite minds, lots of responsibility, busy lives, and tricky situations to figure out.
We are glad you are to be our judge, rather than your Father, even if we are to pray, "Our Father." Earthly fathers don't have the best reputation for being understanding and compassionate. Some of us know this from personal experience.
Lord Jesus Christ, sometimes we like to think of you as a soft-touch, a pushover, easier on us than some crusty old judge who pores over volumes of musty old books to find out a new way to penalize the guilty. We like to think of you saying, "That's okay. I understand. You did your best, and that's all I wanted you to do." We like to imagine you saying, "I'm going to save everybody anyway, so 'be happy, don't worry.' "
Yet, Lord, we have more than a nagging suspicion that these thoughts do not come from you, but from our enemy, who would downplay the importance of our earthly existence, take away the purpose of our struggle, make us forget the awful war that wages in heaven, and so blur right and wrong as to make judgment unnecessary after all.
No judgment?
What a relief that would be!?
(No, it wouldn't.)
What freedom!?
(Not really.)
No more fear of hell!?
(No more yearning for heaven.)
Lord, you are to be the judge, not a nonjudge. You are to tell us, one day, all that we did, and that thought fills us with a dread so deep that we cannot let the thought stay within our minds but for a moment. We know, intuitively, that we cannot stand before you on that day with anything but shame. We know that if we must say we're sorry, we will do so penitently, but we do not want to know what evil we have done to others; we do not want to know how our failures blocked others from you; we do not want to know everything we ever did that was wrong. We do not want to be judged by you, or by anyone. We just want to be forgiven.
Lord, we know we cannot earn our salvation. We know that we need you as our Savior. We know that the mountain of our sin is higher than the hill of our goodness. We know that we have no goodness at all, except what you have given us. Yet, knowing all this, we still dread that day of uncovering, that day of exposure, that day of nothing but sin to see. If you do not cover us up on that day, we shall surely be in hell.
Now that we have made these confessions to you, Lord Jesus, we hold on to the promise you made to all when you said, "I will be with you always." Be with us on our day of judgment. Love us as the Father loves you. And through your love, show us how wonderful the Father's love is after all, that we may thank him for you. Amen.
