Articles
The Last Surprise
Are you ready for judgment? Are you sure?
Jesus warned us over and over again that judgment would come. Some of His parables were terrifying pictures of judgment (Mt. 13:36-43,47-50; etc.). On other occasions, he bluntly spoke of a coming “day of judgment” (Mt. 10:15; 11:22,24; 12:36). As a result, Christians shouldn’t be surprised when judgment comes. But Jesus’ teaching on judgment warns of a different surprise. Many of those who think they are saved will find out they are lost. They will be genuinely surprised, even objecting and defending themselves. But they will be wrong.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Mt. 7:21-23). Do you see their surprise? Do you see them making their defense in objection to their judgment? This wasn’t what they expected. To them, the proof that they were right with God was the power they had from Him. Everything they were doing was in Jesus’ name. They had declared Jesus to be Lord. Surely that is enough proof. But it wasn’t. The power proved that Jesus was from God, but it didn’t prove that He was pleased with them individually. They had missed a crucial point of judgment: the proof of our relationship with God is in our obedience to the Father. There is no benefit in calling Jesus our Lord (or master) if we don’t also obey Him. Jesus warned us that those who are religious but practice lawlessness will be surprised at judgment. They aren’t ready.
In another judgment scene, there were more people surprised at their outcome. This time, they were told that they were accursed for neglecting Jesus by not visiting him in prison, or feeding him, or clothing him, or visiting Him when He was sick (Mt. 25:41-43). They defend themselves, thinking that they had never had opportunity to do those things (Mt. 25:44). Clearly, they were surprised but also wrong. “To the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me” (Mt. 25:45). This seems to be another group of people who want to serve Jesus, but failed to understand how to serve Him. They missed their opportunities, and as a result, weren’t ready for judgment.
There might be even more surprises on the Day of Judgment. Some will find out that their judgment is harder than everyone else’s because they were judgmental and hypocritical. The more we expect from others, the more God will expect from us because “in the way you judge, you will be judged” (Mt. 7:2). Imagine being obedient to God’s word but then finding out that you are doomed because you turned the traditions of men into commands for others or because you excused your own weaknesses but looked down on others for their sins. “Judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy” (Jam. 2:13). Judgment is hard enough, don’t make it any harder for yourselves.
The day of judgment is the last place where you want an unwelcome surprise. It is best to prepare for it now, not by thinking highly of ourselves, but by paying attention to what Jesus said judgment will be based on. Let us be careful to obey God (even in a world where we are told obedience isn’t all that important). Let us be careful to serve Jesus daily by helping those around us. Let us be careful to be merciful and go no farther than Scripture.
