John 12:46-48
Thoughts from Pastor Stuart
Dive Deeper
“I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness. If anyone hears My teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects Me and does not accept My teachings has one who judges him: the word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day.”
John 12:46-48
Behind the Scenes
When Jesus was here on Earth, He understood His purpose and His focus was sure. He didn’t waste time focused on judging those who rejected Him because He knew that focusing on that would stall His ministry and divert His focus. Instead, He came to speak the truth, to give the Gospel, and to serve the world. He came with redemption in mind, focused on giving peace, salvation, and love to anyone who would listen.
He also knew that it was a waste of time for Him to focus on judging those who rejected Him because they stood judged already. He explained this to Nicodemus in John 3:17-19 when He said, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil.”
See, Jesus understood our actual state better than we did. He understood that all mankind rested in a constant state of judgement and lostness until they accepted Him. It wasn’t that the world needed Him to pass judgement on them- it was already judged. But He came to save us from that judgement- to free us from our fate. He came to break the chains of judgement that sat heavy around all our necks.
So, He didn’t come to judge more. Instead, His mission was to set the captive free! And that captive was you and me!
Make it Real
The word “Christian” means “little Christ”. It was a term given to early believers as a way to mock them. But ironically it so perfectly sums up what we are called to do. We are called to be like Christ. We are called to reflect Him.
So, if Jesus knew that the world didn’t need more judgement but came with His focus on fighting for freedom, why would we do any different? Why do we as believers often fall into the trap of heaping more judgement on a lost world? Guys, they are already judged by the God of the universe! How do we ever help them by throwing more judgement on their plates?
My heart literally hurts when I see believers doing this. We were not called to this! We were called to continue in the mission of Jesus Christ. Jesus so beautifully explained His mission in Luke 4:18-19 (quoting from Isaiah) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
And guess what friends? This is our mission too! So instead of worrying about judging the world around us, let’s be about the mission of our Savior. Let’s shift our focus off heaping more judgement on their already full plates and instead be about the business of spreading the good news. Let’s work harder at speaking life. Let’s make it a point to live in a way that preaches the Good News. Let’s love without limits and boldly proclaim the remedy for every hurting soul. Let’s put aside hate and judgement and love like Jesus does. And let’s spend our lives pointing them to the ONLY way they can be freed from their chains of judgement and condemnation. Let’s point them to the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Because we only have enough focus to look at one thing. So, we have to choose… will we focus on judging, or will we focus on loving? Will we focus on how broken the world is, or will we focus on how perfect the Savior is? Will we look more at the disease or the cure? You get to choose where your focus will be. And that choice will determine how useful you are as a “little Christ” in this world. So, let’s choose well. Let’s choose like Christ did.
Crystal Garnett
ACF Digital Discipleship Team Lead
End in Prayer
Lord,
There is so much brokenness around me. It’s so easy to get distracted and get judgmental. But that only renders me useless for Your work. Please help me to keep my eyes on You. Help me to speak Your love and Your Good News to the world. Help me to carry out Your mission in this world! I want to be like You, Jesus.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen