“But I tell you I am going to do what is best for you. This is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you. The Spirit will come and show the people of this world the truth about sin and God’s justice and the judgment. The Spirit will show them that they are wrong about sin, because they didn’t have faith in me. They are wrong about God’s justice, because I am going to the Father, and you won’t see me again. And they are wrong about the judgment, because God has already judged the ruler of this world. I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn’t speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen. The Spirit will bring glory to me by taking my message and telling it to you.”
John 16:7-14 CEV
Jesus came to do what was best for us. He exposed our sin. He demonstrated ultimate justice. He also reveals that our judgments are wrong.
Jesus exposes our sin. He says we are wrong about knowing what sin is. We justify our selfish desires to reduce the severity to not call it sin. Jesus exposed the selfishness in us. Whenever we are selfishly motivated and and we not for the best interest of others, we are not responding to Jesus’ unselfish love for us. Jesus call to follow Him is a call to deny yourself, die to yourself, and follow Him (…must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me).
Jesus demonstrates ultimate justice and points to eternal justice. We are wrong about justice. Our justice involves making the other party suffer. Jesus’ justice is to rescue those who are suffering and oppressed, not to take an eye for an eye. (Psalm 71:2, Jeremiah 22:3)
Jesus reveals that our judgments are wrong. We need to let God bring judgment. Anytime we take judgment into our own hands we risk reacting selfishly. Only God can truly bring true judgment which He did by judging sin and death on the cross. There will be a time when all who trust in Jesus are justified and all who don’t are judged. Until then, we strive to share the good news of Jesus in the lives we model and the words we speak and write.
So how do we respond?
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 (NIV)
We walk humbly, putting the interest of others ahead of our own.
We respond mercifully, by not giving people what they deserve.
We act justly, by doing what is right based on what Jesus has done for us.