Reading: “From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.” (Apostles’ Creed); Isaiah 96:11-13; Acts 10:34-43
Rejoice, heavens, and shout for joy, earth!
Let the sea and all that fills it resound!
Let the field and all that is in it exult!
Let all the trees of the forest shout for joy before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the people with his truth.
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Reflection: The coming of God to judge the world, as described by the prophet Isaiah, is a moment of joy. Judgment implies restoring all of creation to its original settings, like an old operating system burdened with various harmful software (spyware, malware, adware, trojan horses, bot networks, etc.) in need of a refresh. Our world is suffocating from the consequences of humanity’s fall in the Garden of Eden, and this “reset” is called New Creation in the Bible.
Peter’s short but magnificent sermon to the “Gentiles”, which, let us remember, was interrupted and completed by none other than the Holy Spirit descending on those gathered in the house of a Roman officer, reveals much about the “dreadful Judge” that the modern world imagines as the one before whom thick books are opened containing records of all our virtues and vices, secret motives and intentions of the heart, good and evil deeds, and who immensely, almost sadistically, enjoys demonstrating his power and determining the eternal destiny of human souls – especially when sending them to one of those two well-known places! Unfortunately, sometimes even Christians contribute to such a perception of God, forgetting that during the Easter season, we remember that God revealed Himself to humanity through Christ who came not to judge but to save the world and initiate New Creation.
According to Peter’s words, Jesus was appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead, and all who believe in Him receive forgiveness of sins. The Church has always believed that the “reset” that the prophet Isaiah foretold is possible to experience today, not just in the distant future. The apostle Paul emphasized that anyone in Christ is a new creation, and the old has passed away and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The example of Peter’s “reset,” which he experienced as an apostle, was not only manifested as a spiritual change in his relationship with God but also as a change in his relationship with everything around him, especially with people. This was a time when the Church, starting with one of its most important leaders, learned that what is, in their eyes, unclean is clean in God’s eyes. This event in early church history, described in the 10th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, is of great significance as it changed the direction and focus of the original mission of the Church. As a result, we enjoy the blessings of God’s new creation because of this change.
I appreciate the way Karl Barth sees the event of Judgment. He said: It cannot be made clear enough that the Judge Whom we go to meet (or rather Who comes to meet us as our future !) is not any judge, not even anyone equipped with the divine power of judgment and punishment. Regard is not paid to the seriousness of the judgment of Jesus Christ if it is not expected strictly as His judgment, but just on that account ” with the uplifted head ” and ” comforted ” by the prospect of this future. The returning Christ is not feared as He certainly wants to be feared, if it is not first and foremost and unconditionally recognized: He is our hope. (Karl Barth, Credo)
Finally, the world will receive a king and judge who will “judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.” There is no better reason for joy and celebration.
Prayer: Lord, we rejoice today in your return when you renew your world and establish truth and justice in it…