He Will Judge with Righteousness

Kevin and Sarah Root were awakened when they heard an intruder break into their southwest Denver home. It was 3:30 am on Friday, November 7. Sarah immediately called 911. Kevin went to quickly check the hallway. Their four children were asleep in their rooms further down the hall. Kevin shouted several times for the man to leave, but the intruder kept walking up the stairs toward the rooms where their boys were sleeping.

When the intruder stopped at the top of the stairs, Keven threw open their bedroom door, jumped out, and pushed the man hard down the stairs. Police arrived minutes later to take the suspect into custody.

A few days later, a judge set the bond at $5000. The suspect paid $500 cash bond and was released. He is now free to terrorize more Denver families.

This madness happens all too often! New York University student Amelia Lewis was randomly attacked on the streets of Lower Manhattan. The thug who attacked her has 16 prior arrests.

A Chicago serial "woman puncher" was arrested again after years of terrorizing women. This thug has a long rap sheet of punching women in random attacks on Chicago sidewalks. After he attacked a woman in June, he was released. Then he attacked Kathleen Miles in August.

These stories are sadly and maddeningly common within our American judicial system. Police arrest the bad guys. Judges become plagued with empathy, social justice, and racial equity. They release the bad guys to terrorize more victims. The judges have empathy for the criminals. They do not have empathy for the victims … or future victims.

That's not the way it will work with the Judge Isaiah prophecies is coming. "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will be delighted with the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, nor will he render decisions based on what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and he will render fair decisions in favor of the oppressed on the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath from his lips he will put the wicked to death. Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his hips" (Isaiah 11:2-5).

Isaiah gives the credentials of Judge Jesus. The Spirit of the Lord is on him. We want our local, federal, and Supreme Court judges to be impartial, knowledgeable, and wise. You can decide if that's true of our current crop of judges. The Holy Spirit rested on Jesus at his Baptism. Judge Jesus has wisdom and understanding to know what decisions are correct. He has the Spirit's counsel and might to be able to carry out his decisions. He has the Spirit's eternal knowledge. He has the fear and respect of his heavenly Father.

Judge Jesus is a great contrast from the ancient kings of Israel and Judah. These kings had become a stump (Isaiah 11:1). Isaiah had written in the previous chapter how the Jewish kings made widows and orphans their prey. "Woe to those who prescribe unjust decrees, and to those who issue oppressive rulings, to deprive the needy of justice, and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, to plunder widows, and to make the fatherless their prey" (Isaiah 10:1-2)! Isaiah prophecies a future King and Judge who will come to the aid of the needy and poor. The coming Judge will be impartial.

Impartiality is essential for a judge to carry out his work properly. When deciding a case, a judge cannot allow himself to be swayed by the wealth, power, or status that he sees in one party. A judge cannot allow herself to be swayed by empathy, equity, or social justice. Judges must base their decisions solely on an honest weighing of the evidence. This is why justice often is portrayed as a blindfolded woman holding scales and a sword.

It's tragic when an innocent person is convicted, or a guilty person is acquitted in a courtroom. Or when a violent criminal is released back into society. Thankfully, injustice is impossible in God's courtroom. Judge Jesus judges all things with righteousness. Like Lady Justice, Jesus is portrayed as not being swayed by appearances. "He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes." Nor will he be swayed by people's subjective testimony, which may or may not be true. He will not "decide by what he hears with his ears." Instead, he will render his judgments based solely on what is true and just. "With righteousness he will judge the poor, and he will render fair decisions in favor of the oppressed on the earth."

Isaiah describes Judge Jesus wearing righteousness and faithfulness like a belt. He is right in his rulings. He is reliable in his decisions. He doesn't change his mind. The Judge consistently pursues the policy he has determined. He is faithful to all he says.

Jesus is a terrifying Judge for those who are guilty! All those who spout violence from their mouths with gossip, venom, and lies are guilty! All those who remain silent and cowering while others are verbally attacked are guilty! All those who take the life of the unborn, infirm, and elderly are guilty! All those who are apathetic to the plight of the unborn, infirm, and elderly are guilty! All those who are corrupt and steal from hardworking American citizens are guilty! All those who permit this poor stewardship of our tax dollars are guilty! All those who worship pagan gods are guilty! All those who refuse or refrain from worshiping the true God are guilty!

Wow! That's a lot of guilty people! Those guilty people include us!

What will Judge Jesus do with the guilty? "He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath from his lips he will put the wicked to death" (Isaiah 11:4). Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 2. "You will smash them with an iron rod. You will break them to pieces like pottery" (Psalm 2:9). He is implementing St. John's vision of Judgment Day. "Look, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. And all the nations of the earth will mourn because of him" (Revelation 1:7). St. John describes the way the guilty will react when Judge Jesus arrives with his divine judgment. "The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military leaders, the rich, the powerful, and everyone―slave or free―hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they kept saying to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come. Who is able to stand'" (Revelation 6:15-17)?

Jesus will come in the future and does come in the present with wrath. This appears to conflict with the meaning of Jesus' name – "He saves." Jesus judges righteously and perfectly. He will bring God's wrath upon those who oppose him. He will strike down his enemies. He will put the wicked to death. That's terrifying if we're among the wicked!

Listen to John the Baptist's message, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:2)! Repent means to turn around. Confess your wickedness. Turn away from your evil. Replace your apathy with the fire of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). Turn toward God whose arms are open wide to receive you. Accept Judge Jesus' verdict of "not guilty." Jesus has removed your guilty verdict and placed it on himself. Now through faith in Jesus as your Savior, Judge Jesus gives you the verdict of innocence.

For those who remain Christ's enemies, Jesus will bring his righteous wrath upon them – either temporally now or eternally in hell – or both. God's verdict of wrath on our enemies protects the innocent.

John the Baptist preached that the kingdom of heaven is near (Matthew 3:2). We pray in the second petition of the Lord's Prayer, "your kingdom come." Martin Luther wrote in his Large Catechism that we are praying two things in this petition. "We pray that his name may be praised through God's holy Word and a Christian life that we who have accepted it may abide and daily grow in it, and that it may gain approval and acceptance among other people. … And we pray that the devil's kingdom be put down, so that he have no right or power over us until at last his power may be utterly destroyed."

All who trust in Jesus for forgiveness have nothing to fear from Jesus' judgment. All those who are members of Christ's kingdom are safe. Jesus is a Judge who judges righteously. Nothing will sway him from rendering the verdict that he knows is right. For all those who trust in him, there will be only one verdict – you are not guilty. You are acquitted.

Jesus is far more than a justice of the peace. He is the Judge who establishes peace. "The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together, and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze together, and their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the cattle. The nursing child will play near a cobra's hole, and the weaned child will put his hand into a viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:6-9).

Earlier this week, a troubled 19-year-old young man who desired to work with animals crawled over the 20-foot fence into a lioness habitat in a Brazilian zoo. He found out the hard way that you shouldn't base your knowledge of animals on Disney movies. He did not survive the encounter. Humans and lions are not meant to live together. Isaiah says that the same goes for wolves and lambs. Wolves eat lambs. A child playing near venomous snakes is a parent's nightmare. Yet, under the rule of Jesus our Judge, these things occur naturally. Jesus brings peace to natural enemies. David's greater Son, the Branch from the stump of Jesse, will rule over a renewed earth and heaven. Jesus says of himself, "I am making everything new" (Revelation 21:5)!

This is a picture of the greatest peace that Jesus brings – peace between God and sinners. Apart from Jesus, there is no peace between God and us. There is only rebellion. Enemies from birth. Wickedness from humanity. Wrath from God. Sinful humans don't want peace with God. But God wants peace with us. That's why he sent his Son Jesus to establish peace with between a holy God and rebellious humanity. Jesus, by his perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection removed the cause of hostility between God and us. He removed our sin. He endured God's wrath. He received the guilty verdict so we might be set free with an acquittal. Jesus established peace – not just between animals, but between God and humanity.

Now we, who once were at war with God, are at peace with him through Judge Jesus who brings peace. Continue trusting in Jesus, and you will enjoy his peace forever.

All too often it seems like there are stories about violence in our nation. That violence is perpetrated by a small percentage of repeat offenders. Permissive judges are allowing this violence upon the innocent. We should all be prepared to protect ourselves in our nation, on our streets, and within our own homes.

If our elected and appointed judges won't keep us safe, as parents, and especially as men, we are called to protect those God has placed within our care. Also know that Judge Jesus has been appointed by God to Father to keep us safe. He doesn't judge with his eyes or ears, with empathy or revenge. He judges with wrath for the wicked. He judges with a verdict of innocence for those who repent and receive his forgiveness. Jesus judges with righteousness and faithfulness.

No wonder Isaiah says that all people will rally to Jesus! "This is what will take place on that day. The peoples will seek the Root of Jesse, who will be standing like a banner for the peoples, and his resting place will be glorious" (Isaiah 11:10). How can we not rally around such a righteous Judge?! Amen.

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). Amen.