Archive

 

No, Jesus judges no one.
You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.
John 8:15  NASB

 

Yes, Jesus judges everyone.
For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,
John 5:22  NASB

 

SAB Contradiction  270

 

The Bible about judging
It is a clear biblical teaching that there is divine judgement over all sin. God is the avenger of all evil, no question about that. (Romans  1:18, 12:19) And yet Jesus said: I am not judging anyone. Isn’t that a clear Bible Contradiction?

 

Overlooked principle  
The critic failed to refer to the crucial passage in the gospel of John:

17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, …

The overlooked principle is: Jesus doesn’t need to judge. Whoever does not believe, is judging himself. (18)

 

The first coming
The first coming of Jesus had a very special purpose as we read in verse 17: to save the world and not to judge the world. Remarkably this is not against God’s general divine judgement concerning all evil. Jesus being the Light was always more in his spiritual and moral standards. He didn’t need to say what people did wrong; in his appearance people experienced that He was more, His divine light entered into the innermost recesses of the heart.

References of the critic that Jesus don’t judge are related to the first coming:
You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.
John 8:15
If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
John 12:47

 

The second coming
In Matthew 25:31-32 Jesus states: “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; …”  In the second coming Jesus will take place on his glorious throne to judge. And so it is said about Him: “… this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.” (Acts 10:42)

References of the critic that Jesus will judge are related to the second coming:
For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,
John 5:22
and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
John 5:27
And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world,
John 9:39
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:10

 

Conclusion
The critic failed to see that there are two different moments/situations concerning the question of Jesus’ judgement. The texts that He will not judge are related to the first coming and the texts about his judgement are related to his second coming. And so:

 

No Bible Contradiction

Additional
Everybody has a natural faculty related to judging things. This is necessary to live. Of course Jesus also had this faculty, as he was also true man.
Concerning this faculty Jesus taught his disciples to be careful: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged…” (Matthew 7:1) and also : “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (John 7:24) He himself was the illustration of it: “But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.” (John 8:16) He accepted the rule that something is true if there are two (or three) testimonies (his testimony and that of his Father, i.e. the miracles on his words).