Judges

With all the news about Supreme Court nominees lately, we are familiar with the role of judges.  Or are we?

That’s part of the debate going on in the country—should Supreme Court justices have a judicial philosophy of determining whether laws are constitutional (by strictly interpreting the constitution) or of determining what the laws should be?  That is, are they judges or legislators?

Other images of judges may be obtained from movies or television, even something like “Judge Judy”.  But all of those images are probably far from what a judge actually has to do.

When we look at the biblical image of a judge, though, we see something very different from what we expect of judges today.  A judge didn’t just decide who was right or wrong, or who had broken some law.  A judge established justice—he made things right.  

This is not just an impartial jurist weighing arguments and then mediating a compromise.   The judge was partial—to God’s law, to God’s righteousness and justice, and to God’s concern for the oppressed.  (However, it was not just taking the side of the poor against the rich.  If the poor person was in the wrong, it was the judge’s responsibility to establish justice in that case, too.)

When we look toward the end of the age, what kind of judge will there be?  Some hope there will not be a “judgment day”, that everyone will be admitted into heaven regardless of their faith or life here on earth.  Some expect everyone else to be judged, but they themselves will get a pass.  Some expect to be judged harshly, not realizing that grace might apply in their case.  

I expect that God, who revealed Himself in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and most specifically in Jesus Christ, will be the same God as ever.  

The judge who demanded adherence to the covenant will still judge per His covenant with His people.  

The judge who separated the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46) will still be concerned with what those who claimed to be His people did with others, especially the poor, oppressed, and weak.

And the judge who revealed Himself in Jesus, and established a new covenant through Jesus’ sacrifice, will keep His part of the covenant with those who signed on to the covenant themselves.

That’s what I expect.  What do you expect?