Thoughts for the Day

…rise to live … rise to be condemned                        John 5:29

Today’s scripture again picks up the theme of Jesus returning as judge, this time from John’s gospel.  John’s language can seem convoluted, but there is no question that Jesus is the judge in question, and his judgement is clear too.  “… a time is coming,” Jesus says, “when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.”

But, what about those who have done a bit of ‘good’ and a bit of ‘evil’?  How does this ‘black and white’, binary outcome provide justice for them … for surely the judge of all the earth will act justly!  How will the scales of justice weigh our ‘good’ against our ‘evil’?  It is a matter of perspective, and sadly for us, by the standard of God’s perfect righteousness our ‘good’ weighs next to nothing; our ‘evil’ always tips the scales against us. But God knows this, so, through His outrageous offer that whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life, somehow our ‘evil’ is set aside and His ‘good’ is credited to us.  Exactly how is a heavenly mystery, although the Easter story gives us many pictures to help us understand. And what of those rising to be condemned?  Scripture seems to offer scant hope for their ultimate redemption.  Indeed, the very language here – judgement and condemnation – speaks against it.  Some argue that, if people have died choosing not to believe in Jesus, there is no point in being raised simply to face condemnation; why wouldn’t a loving God simply leave them dead?  But this is entirely consistent with the whole flow of scripture which repeatedly declares that evil and injustice in the world ultimately have to face God’s judgment