Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
John 9.39, NIV
We are primed to expect that God is mad at us and everybody around us; which is very interesting in and of itself. Yet, all the testimony of the New Testament is summed up by John 3.16, namely that “God so loved that world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life…”
Or as God said to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.11, “who told you you were naked?”
Aha! The snake did it…
Satan has always wanted to get back at God by twisting human perception of God’s goodness, as something else entirely. And yet, clearly judgement is a real thing: here is Jesus apparently saying that it is why He came into the world.
So that is actually two things, not one.
When Isaiah 61 talks of “the Day of Vengeance of our God“, who is that aimed at? Vengeance implies that judgement is already completed, and now comes the execution of the sentence: so who is the object of that Vengeance?
Well that would be Satan, and all allied to him. That sentence already stood before Man was created; God has done everything to get us out before the mine blows. If you choose to stay, that is on you.
But here is Jesus saying He has come for judgement; so what is going on?
Look at the context.
Jesus has healed the man born blind, who was then grilled by the Pharisees for sabbath-breaking and general ‘refusing to disrespect Jesus’. They toss him out (of the room? The Temple? Judaism?) and Jesus finds him again.
Then Jesus asks him, “Do you place your trust into the Son of Man?”
[my literal translation – we really have to get serious about what πιστεύω means, which is fundamentally ‘trust’ or ‘rely on’, and ‘believe’ only by derivation and extension]
Remember that the man has never seen Jesus before.
The man says, “who is He Lord, that I might put my trust into him?”
Jesus replies, “But you have seen Him! and the one now speaking with you is that one.”
The man says, “I trust, Lord” and he worships Him.
And that is the context: the man born blind puts his trust into the Son of Man, as soon as he is told with whom he is speaking.
And that is the reference Jesus is making when He says “Εἰς κρίμα”, which the NIV renders “for judgement” but I would render “for the purpose of a decision”
“For the purpose of a decision, I have come into the world, so that those who don’t see will see, and those who see will become blind.”
Who is making the decision, or the judgement if you prefer? We are. The man born blind made a judgement. The Pharisees in the group following Jesus, quoted at the end of chapter nine, also made a judgement. They decided they knew better than anyone, including Jesus, so “your sin remains”.
Does this decision or judgement potentially have the same force as the judgement we feared it was, ie God judging us? Yes, of course. But that is true of every one who ‘comes under judgement’.
We all think that when it comes to the pinch, we will be able to say, “but that’s not fair, God!”
But when we get there, we will find that we made the judgement; the consequences rest with us. “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?”
“Then I will agree with them that (ὁμολογήσω αὐτοῖς ὅτι), ‘I never knew you. Withdraw from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matt 7:22-23, my rendering)
So stop listening to the voice of condemnation in your head (it is unquestionably Satan), and focus on responding to the free offer of life in Jesus. That is the decision Jesus came for – acknowledge you can’t see, and you will receive your sight.
