The lord as our “Dear Dread” - Chambers, Oswald

Then said jesus, it is for judgement that i have come into this world, to make the sightless see, to make the seeing blind. John 9:39 (moffatt )

That is one of the stiff things Jesus said. It is either nonsense, or what we believe it to bethe very wisdom of god. There is no contradiction in that verse and john 12:47for i came not to judge the world, but to save the world; Jesus christ did not come to pronounce judgement, he himself is the judgement; whenever we come across him we are judged instantly.

1. In the unerring directness of his presence

One of the most remarkable things about Jesus christ is that although he was full of love and gentleness, yet in his presence every one not only felt benefited, but ashamed. It is his presence that judges us; we long to meet him, and yet we dread to. We have all known people like that; to meet them is to feel judged, not by anything they say we are rarely judged by what people say, but by their character.

(a) the judgement of his language

People realised his judgement in his words, not in his pronouncements such as Matthew 23, but in his casual language, judgement came straight home. So with our friends, some casual word, a word not neces- sarily addressed to us at all, judges us and we feel our meanness,8 that we have missed the mark. Jesus did not stand as a prophet and utter judgements; wherever he went the unerring directness of his presence located men. We are judged too by children, we often feel ashamed in their presence; they are much more our judges than we theirs, their simplicity and attitude to things illustrates our lords judgements.

(b) the judgement of his labours

The sense of judgement was brought home in the wonderful things Jesus did. When he told peter to put out into the deep, and the multitude of fishes was so great that the boats began to sink, Simon peter . . . Fell down at Jesus knees, saying, depart from me; for i am a sinful man, o lord. What Jesus did judged peter absolutely. He did not say, you should have done what i told you without any demur, he was simply ineffably and extraordinarily kind, and that drove the judgement home.

(c) the judgement of his looks

It is not sentimental to say that the photograph of some people brings a sense of judgement; in certain moods we feel rebuked when we meet the look direct of someone we love, or look at their photo. If that is true of human beings, what must it have been of the looks of Jesus? And the lord turned, and looked upon peter. . . . And he went out, and wept bitterly (rv ). I do not think there was any rebuke in his look how dare you do such a thing, but a look of absolute god-likeness, and it brought the judgement home (cf. Mark 10:21; 3:5). It is not simply the things Jesus says to us directly, or what he does in the way of judgement particularly; it is himself entirely, wherever he comes we are judged.

(d) the judgement of his life

If you look at a sheep in the summer time you would say it was white, but see it against the background of startling virgin snow and it looks like a blot on the landscape. If we judge ourselves by one another we do not feel condemned (see 2 Corinthians 10:12); but immediately Jesus christ is in the background his life, his language, his looks, his labours, we feel judged instantly. It is for judgement that i have come into this world (moffatt ). The judgement that Jesus christs presence brings makes us pronounce judgement on ourselves, we feel a sense of shame, or of missing the mark, and we determine never to do that thing again. If jesus christ was only like a man, with a lynx eye for seeing everything that was wrong, we might be defiant. When someone with fiendish penetration unearths all we are, it does not bring judgement home to us, it awakens resentment and we glory in our badness; but when we come across the unerring directness of Jesus christs presence we feel as peter feltdepart from me, . . . O lord. He felt unfit to be anywhere near Jesus.

2. In the unexpected discovery of his presentations

(a) the blindness of human judgement

Jesus said some astounding things. This is one of them i have come . . . To make the seeing blind (moffatt ). For man looketh on the outward appearance . . . As long as we deal with things theoretically, we think that the best thing to do. I see certain facts in your life, you see certain facts in mine, and we pass judgement on one another. Jesus says that our judgement is blind, it does not see.

(b) the blunders of his judges

Who do men say that the son of man is? And they said, some say john the baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets (mat- thew 16:1314 RV ). He hath beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils he casteth out devils (mark 3:22). Behold, a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! (Luke 7:34). These are some of the blunders of the human judgements of Jesus.

(c) the astonishment of his judgements

For instance, take our lords judgement of peter thou art Simon the son of john: thou shalt be called cephas (which is by interpretation peter) ( john 1:42 rv), that is, rock or stone(mg). Any ordinary common-sense person would say it was absurd to call peter a rock, he was the most impulsive, the most unreliable of all the disciples: and yet the judgement of jesus proved to be correct. Again, Jesus saw nicodemus alone, and although he was a cowardly disciple, he spoke the most vital truth he ever spoke to him. Again, he talked to a sinful woman about worship- ping god and about the gift of the holy spirit.

We are apt to think the judgements of Jesus are wrong, but when they come straight home in our personal lives we judge in the same way. At first we are certain that our common-sense is wise, that we

See and understand; when Jesus comes. He makes that seeing blind. The first coming of Jesus into a life brings confusion, not peace (see matthew 10:34). When we receive the holy spirit the immediate manifestation is not peace and joy, but amazement, a sense of division instead of order, because we are being re-related to everything and seeing things dif- ferently: we had been seeing in a blind way. Before we received the holy spirit we used to have very clear and emphatic judgements, now in certain matters we have not even ordinary common-sense judgement, we seem altogether impoverished. The way Jesus judges makes us know we are blind. We decide what is the most sensible common-sense thing to do, then jesus comes instantly with his judgement and confuses everything, and in the end he brings out something that proves to be the perfect wisdom of god. The judgements of jesus are always unexpected; unexpected in every way, e. G. , Matthew 25:3740.

3. In the unceasing deliberateness of his power

It is for judgement that i have come into this world. (moffatt)

Jesus says the father . . . Hath given him authority to execute judgement also, because he is the son of man ( john 5:27). The first of his judgements and the last, are himself his presence, his words, his labours, his looks, his life; these judge us all through, and it is to be the same in the end. Judge nothing before the time, until the lord come. Our lord is unceasingly deliberate, the beginning and the end of his judgement is the same; he will not pass a hasty judgement on us. When he comes he will judge us straightaway, and we shall accept his judgement.

There is no vindictiveness in our lords judgements; he passes judgement always out of his personal love. To my mind the thought of the last judgement is a superb comfort, because we know who is to be the judge: jesus is to be the judge. He will not pass a judgement that scathes, we can give ourselves over to him knowing perfectly well that there are certain things in us which must go, and we are only too willing For them to go, but they cannot go without our feeling the pain and the shame of ever having held to them. When we have wronged someone we love, the hard thing is not that he says something against us, but that he does not. That is the way our lord judges, by his kindness (cf. Luke 15:2124).

No! I dare not raise
One prayer, to look aloft, lest it should gaze
On such forgiveness as would break my heart.
H. S. Sutton

. . . Not knowing that the goodness of god lead- eth thee to repentance (Romans 2:4). Some passages in the new testament are taken to refer to the second coming of our lord, but their real meaning is his presence (e. G. , 1 thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 5:23; 1 john 2:28). He may come at any minute into our minds, or into our circumstances, and suddenly we feel a sense of shame. He is a dear dread, we long to see him and yet we are afraid to, because we know his presence will bring judgement on the things that are wrong.

For every one that doeth ill hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved ( john 3:20 rv). You instantly know when you are away from the light by the lust of vindication in yourselfi know i am right, and you may dispute it right up to the threshold of the lords coming, but when he comes, instead of vindicating yourself, you will feel like peter, depart from me, . . . O lord.

If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his (Romans 8:9). When we have a ban of finality9 about our views, we do not exhibit the spirit of Jesus, but the spirit of the pharisee. We pronounce judgements, not by our character or our goodness, but by the intolerant ban of finality in our views, which awakens resentment and has none of the spirit of Jesus in it. Jesus never judged like that. It was his presence, his inherent holiness that judged. When- ever we see him we are judged instantly. We have to practise the presence of Jesus and work on the basis of his disposition. When we have experienced the unfathomable forgiveness of God for all our wrong, we must exhibit that same forgiveness to others.