If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
Sometimes it feels like the pace of this blog could be picked up a bit. After all, how much detail can you expect from one verse? Well, quite a bit as it turns out.
Today’s verse turns the picture of God as JUDGE OF THE UNIVERSE upside down. Instead of threatening plagues or floods, Jesus says he is not here to judge. What?
Is this the same God we read about in the Old Testament?
Well, yes.
It turns out that God had a plan to save the world from the very beginning. (Genesis 3: 15) Jesus could have come in chapter 4 of Genesis, but who would have crucified him and why? There needed to be an understanding established. God needed to explain what righteousness is, and what the cost of sin is. The animal sacrifices conducted by the early Jews demonstrated the messy, bloody, deadly price required for sin. The priesthood established by God acted as an intercessor between God and man. Both sacrifice and intercessor are needed.
Finally, the time was right, and Jesus entered the world. His job: Not to judge the world, but to save it.
Let’s Discuss: Is wanting to save the world instead of judging it consistent with God’s nature?