The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

What did Jesus mean when He Spoke about Judgment?

I read the following scripture this morning that pertained to judgment. The scripture is from Matt 7:

 ¹ “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. ² For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

I have previously written about the subject of “judgment” several times. Quite frankly, much of this writing communicated my personal Judgment Day experiences at a time that I was near death. These experiences were spiritual in nature and are fascinating in that they reveal the truth about what lies on the other side of this life. If you would like to read about these experiences you can follow the following hyperlinks to them:

Judgment-Day

Reliving-my-sins-before-the-Judgment-Seat-of-Christ

Gods-Question-on-Judgment-Day

Opening-the-Books-on-Judgment-Day

Repentance-Brings-Salvation-Even-on-Judgment-Day

I have also written about Judgment from a definitional point of view. In it I stated that there are two components of Judgment. In one we attempt to determine the truth and then determine the guilt or innocence of the accused.  If found guilty then the second component of judgment is invoked, which is the punishment for the offence.

So, when we look to the scripture presented above, we should ask ourselves what component(s) of judgment is Jesus speaking about? It certainly can not be about knowing the truth as the Holy Spirit often gives us discernment about such things. In addition, we could also be an eye-witness to the act and therefore know the truth. Is Jesus asking us not to be such a witness? Certainly not! Therefore Jesus must be talking about the delivery of punishment to others. 

The words of Jesus are quite powerful here. What they reveal is that if we can simply stop punishing others for their offences, then God will refrain from punishing us at the Judgment Day. This is an amazing promise because it directly impacts our eternity. What is even more amazing is what Jesus does not say. So for example, He makes no reference to any sin that may have committed in our lifetime. In fact, He does not communicate any other condition that would prevent anyone from being free from His Judgment. Simply put, punish not and you will not be punished.

In essence, we then become our own judge, in that how we deal with others will determine our fate. The measure we use to determine an offence worthy of punishment is the measure that will be used to determine our own guilt. The severity of our actions will determine how we are treated.

Jesus on the Cross

Why would this be? I believe that it is because it requires an extraordinary kind of love to do something like this, but it is precisely this kind of love that God desires from us. Jesus commanded us to Love one another as He loved us and we know that the love He gave us was His life on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. This is the ultimate love; to give up ones life so that others may live forever with God. This is the love that God wants from us!