Apostles' Creed: Ascension & Judgement Day // Rev. Matt Kennedy // July 20 2025

Under the American system of criminal justice, a trial judge is not usually the one responsible to determine guilt or innocence (that's the jury's job), but a judge does hand down sentencing and punishments. There might be merits to this system within a democracy, but it has the potential to create confusion for readers of the Bible when we describe God as "Judge".In some ways, Biblical judgement is the opposite. The Divine judge is the one who determines truth from falsehood, but as Jesus once told a Pharisee, "God did not send his son into the world to condemn it, but to save it." (John 3:17). God's judgement is different from condemnation. God's judgement is simply to shine a light on what is true. What happens after that is largely up to us.A lot of us have difficulty thinking about the judgement of God in helpful ways, but to confess  that Jesus will, "come again to judge the living and the dead" doesn't have to be a frightening or repulsive thing. Scripture's picture of God's judgement actually can lead to a liberating spirit that allows grace and peace to flourish in our lives better than if we lived under a Lord who had no interest in judgement.