“Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world’” (John 9:39)
“I did not come to judge the world, but to save it” (John 12:47)
It appears to be a contradiction—Jesus first tells us that He came for judgment, and later in the same gospel He said that He did not come to judge to world but to save it. How can He judge without judging, or not judge and yet judge? Even earlier in John 5:22 we read: “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.” Compound all that with the famous separation of sheep and goats in chapter 25:31-46 of the Matthew gospel, when the Son of Man, the King, will come in all His glory and separate the people the way a shepherd divides his sheep from his goats.
Clearly there will be a final judgment and sorting out of those who are invited to share in the glory of the Kingdom of heaven and those left outside; but who is doing the judging? Not the Father, for that is the purpose of sending His Son. However, the Son of God Jesus Christ is saying that He really came to save the world, not to judge it. Yet there’s no contradiction.
Imagine you have a passion for classical music. You live for the beauty of listening to grand operas. Then you meet somebody with whom you fall in love. You ask her out on a date, and you want to surprise her with the joy that you find especially when you hear a superb orchestra and singers perform an opera. The tickets are difficult to obtain and more than you hoped to pay; however, you want to share what is glorious in your life with somebody you feel exceptional. But as the opera begins, she fidgets and seems bored. You cannot enjoy the performance because you are made aware of her boredom. It’s not the fault of the opera, orchestra or performers. You need not question your taste in music nor your first impression of her. Your love of opera was not misplaced. Nor was your infatuation with her that you may have even thought of as love. You had not judged her. She has judged herself.
The analogy weakens at this point because you may reconsider how important it is for you to select a partner who is not in tune with your interests. You may scratch her name from your phone directory or take her from your cell phone list and not call for a second date, but the heavenly Father never stops loving us regardless of our inability or lack of desire to respond to His love for us. He sent His only-begotten Son to invite us to the Kingdom, but it’s ours to accept or refuse the invitation. The wonderful and renowned phrase nearly all Christians know: “For God so loved the world that He sent His only-begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16) goes on to add: “God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (3:17).
Christ came as Light to lead us to the heavenly light; however, there are those who prefer darkness to light because they do evil deeds and do not want their deeds to be exposed. They choose, and by their choice they judge themselves. When I read these texts in the gospel of John, they frighten me because they are stated so simply. The author uses such clear, short words and phrases that the reader has a difficult time trying to pretend that he doesn’t understand. And that pretense is also a judgment.