Righteous Judgment

I was reading from the Book of Isaiah, the Messianic Prophet, regarding the coming of the Christ in chapter 11.  Of all the awe inspiring descriptions of His reign like the lion laying down with the calf and the infant reaching into a viper's nest without harm, it was interesting what caught my attention.

In verse three, the prophet wrote, "He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears."  Seems rather pedestrian compared to the other descriptions, but I was struck by the fact that the Messiah would not judge by what he saw or heard.  So, by what would he judge?  Isn't it a sort of axiom that we can only judge by what we see and hear?  Maybe, but isn't it also true that often the way things appear and the way they are aren't always the same?

Based on what you saw and heard, have you ever been quite certain but quite wrong in a judgment?  Have you never been surprised to find out that what you saw and what was later revealed were not even close?  My mother used to say, "Don't believe anything you read and only half of what you see."  Righteous judgment exists beyond the physical senses, it sees in the hidden places.

"For the word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing the sould and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Heb 4:12).  Jesus, who is the Word incarnate (see John 1:14), sees past what is evident to our physical senses and judges rightly according to the inner thoughts and attitudes.

That is why we are cautioned in Matthew 7 about judging.  While we must evaluate the actions of another in order to protect ourselves from evildoers (vv. 15-20), we are not to judge the moral worth of another (vv. 1-6).  In other words, while we are to judge the actions of another as good or bad, we are not to assign a spiritual value to that individual.  Only God can make that judgment.  We can hate the sin but not the sinner.

For our part, we are called to love everyone, even our "perceived" enemies.  We are even to pray for those who mistreat us (Matt 5:44).  We may have to limit contact with one whose actions cause us harm, but we are not to write them off.  Instead, we are to lift them up in prayer, leaving the writing of their name in God's Book of Life up to God.  Jus' Sayn.