Does Jesus judge people, or not?

The passages

John 5:22

“The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.”

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

John 5:27–29

The Son has authority to execute judgment; the dead will hear his voice and rise to life or to damnation.

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

John 9:39

“For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

John 8:15–16

“Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man”, and then, “yet if I judge, my judgment is true”.

Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

John 12:47–48

“I came not to judge the world, but to save the world”; the word he has spoken will judge the one who rejects him “in the last day”.

And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

2 Corinthians 5:10

“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

The objection

In John 5:22 Jesus says that the Father has committed all judgment to the Son, and in John 9:39 that he came into the world for judgment. Yet in John 8:15 he says, “I judge no man”, and in John 12:47, “I came not to judge the world”. Paul adds that all must stand before Christ’s judgment seat. Does Jesus judge or not?

The answer

Jesus distinguishes the purpose of his coming into the world from the judgment he will carry out at the last day. Both sides are in each passage. In John 12:47 he says that he did not come to judge (Greek krinō, here ‘condemn’) but to save; in the next verse he adds that his word “shall judge him in the last day”. In John 5 the judgment committed to him is set at the resurrection: “the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice” (5:28). John 3:17–18 explains the pattern: God did not send the Son to condemn the world, yet whoever refuses to believe “is condemned already”. Barnes puts it simply: it was not his present purpose to condemn; that would come later.

John 8:15 is about the manner of judging. The Pharisees had just written off his witness, judging “after the flesh”, by outward appearances. ‘You’ and ‘I’ are emphatic in the Greek: you judge that way; I judge no one. He at once adds, “And yet if I judge, my judgment is true” (8:16), so he is not denying that he has the right to judge.

John 9:39 speaks, as Barnes notes, of the effect of his coming rather than its design. His light divides people: the blind man who believed came to see, while the Pharisees, who said “We see”, kept their sin (9:40–41). So Jesus came first as Saviour, and those who turn from him judge themselves by their response; and he will come again as Judge (2 Corinthians 5:10; Acts 17:31).

Does Jesus judge people, or not?

The passages

The objection

The answer

From the classic commentators

Sources

Further reading