I will be judging our 7th and 8th grade members this week. On Monday night they will write a test on the Apostles Creed. Afterwards I will determine whether each one has sufficiently learned what has been taught in class and reinforced by their homework and study. In fact, every time students do an assignment or take a test it is a form of judging. The teacher uses a standard to determine whether or not the student is learning the material.

I think my class is a little nervous about this judgment. I can relate to their anxiety. I spent the better part of twenty years as a student and was still anxious at the age of 26 when doing assignments, writing tests, or doing a presentation in front of my professor. I think any time we are in a position in which we are judged by an outside person as to whether or not we are living up to expectations, we have a tendency to be anxious.

Now there are some who say that we should not subject others to judgment. They may even quote Jesus from his Sermon on the Mount in which he said, “Judge not, lest you be judged.” But this is a misapplication of that passage. In context Jesus is saying we are not to be judgmental and look down on others. He does go on to say that once we have taken an honest look at our lives and
straightened them out that we are to help a fellow Christian who is not living up to God’s will.

And so, we live in a world in which judgment is quite common. Students are judged by teachers(and parents). Employees are judged by their bosses and vice versa. Relatives judge each other’s actions. Even in the church judgment is passed on others. Unfortunately, we don’t always follow
the command of Jesus and judge in the proper way. At times we are self-righteous, look down on others, think more highly of ourselves than we ought and do not follow Paul’s instructions on this matter when he writes in Galatians 6:1ff 1Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But
watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing
himself to somebody else, 5for each one should carry his own load.

This tendency to judge is nothing new. The sin to misjudge others is also nothing new. As we look at an incident in Jesus’ life when he was judged, we note that proper judgment will come when our beliefs and actions are compared to the standard of God’s will.
Jesus Came into the World for Judgment

These events circle around a man who had been born blind. The judging of others starts early and occurs often in our text.
• The disciples judged either this man or his parents when they asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind.” Even today many people judge those who have suffered a calamity and look to blame them for it or to blame God.
• After Jesus healed this blind man by making mud with his spit and having him wash it off in the pool of Siloam, the Pharisees judged Jesus saying it wasn’t right for him to heal on the Sabbath.
• During the investigation, the blind man’s parents were afraid of being judged for speaking up for Jesus and feared by kicked out of the synagogue.
• The Pharisees judged the blind man and accused him of being steeped in sin from his birth.
• They also judged Jesus and accused him of being a sinner during their questioning of the blind man.
• Finally, Jesus himself asked the blind man to make a judgment.
35Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

Of all the judgments being made in this account, this last one is the most important.
Application: Hopefully, we can learn something from this.
First of all, we are just as guilty as the disciples, the Pharisees, and others who judge unfairly who other people are or what they are doing. And we judge them for such petty things. We judge others by what they wear, their hairstyle, body piercing, hygiene. We judge them by what they say,
how they say it, why they say it. We judge their actions regardless of where they are or what they do. Although the Bible repeatedly tells us not to be judgmental, we must confess that we sin again and again by doing the exact opposite. And it is over such trivial, insignificant, unimportant things that don’t make one bit of difference in our relationship with God.

Secondly, when our fellow Christians are not living up to God’s standards, we are reluctant to speak to them about and to restore them gently or to warn them of God’s judgment if they do not repent.

In addition to this, we seemingly have lost interest in the most important thing for which Jesus will judge all people on the Last Day. Does a person believe in the Son of Man? Our greatest concern should be whether we believe in Jesus as our Savior. Our next greatest concern should be whether
those around us believe in Jesus as their Savior. The goal of our church isn’t to produce as many proper, sanctified, self-righteous people as we can but to share the Gospel in an ever changing world so that we might be a light shining in a dark place. And yet, evidence shows that we are more concerned about judging that displaying the light.

Jesus was not so distracted. He didn’t come into the world to challenge the man made traditions and laws or to judge the Pharisees. He came into the world to be one who revealed what his Father is really like. He came to be the light shining in the darkness and to do his Father’s will. He came as a teacher, a miracle worker, a preacher, and as one obedient to God’s law and will. He was going to do what his Father has sent him to do and “let the chips fall where they may.”
Jesus wanted everyone to recognize who he has as this blind man did. But for those who did not,he had this to say later in John 12:47ff

47“As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. 49For I did
not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

Jesus did not go around judging people while he was in the world. And yet, what he did became the standard by which he would judge on the Last Day. So for this reason, what he said in our text is true: 39Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those
who see will become blind.” He tells us that God the Father is the one who judges now and that he, the Son, will judge on the Last Day announcing his Father’s judgment.

Although Jesus returned to heaven almost 2000 years ago, his light still shines in our world today. Through the pages of the Bible we read about what Jesus did for us and how he conducted his ministry. Just as a light reveals what is there, so to Jesus reveals to us what is in our hearts through
the word of God as the writer to the Hebrews says:
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Note how the word “judge” is used again. On the Last Day we must give account to God–not for what we wore, how we looked, the way we talked, or what our little quirks might be that others judge us for. We must give account to God in regard to the question Jesus asked of the blind man,
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Those who are spiritually blind will say “No” and will have a lived a life demonstrative of that. Those who are enlightened will “Yes” and will have lived a life demonstrative of that.

Conclusion: Tomorrow night our 7th and 8th grade confirmation class will being taking their test and subsequently will be judged. It will be a fair judgment. I will question them on exactly what I have taught in class and they have taken notes on and studied for weekly quizzes. I will grade them based on their answers and not on how they act in class, who they are, or what they are
wearing etc. Those who study will do well, those who don’t will most likely fail