What does the Bible teach about Jesus as judge?

The Lord next singles out the immense miracle of resurrection. "For even as the Father raiseth the dead and quickeneth, so the Son also quickeneth whom He will; for not even the Father judgeth any one, but hath given all the judgment to the Son; that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father that sent Him" (verses 21-23). There can be no doubt that giving life to the dead befits and characterises God; but if the Father does so, no less does the Son, and this not as an instrument, but sovereignly: "the Son also quickeneth whom He will." He is a Divine Person as truly as the Father, in full right and power. But more: He alone judges.105a Judgment as a whole, and in all its forms, is committed to the Son by the Father, Who in this sense judges none, with the express aim that all should honour the Son even as they honour the Father. And so it really is; for they honour not the Father, but do Him despite who honour not His sent One, the Son. It is the Son on Whom, by the Father's pleasure, it devolves to judge; but we shall find that there is a moral reason for this which appears afterward. As it is, we learn that the Son quickens in communion with the Father, and that only He judges. Thus is His honour secured from all men, who are either quickened if they believe, or judged if they do not.

All men without exception have to appear before the judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10; Ecc. 12:14). This tribunal has three different “sessions”: a) 2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10 b) Matt. 25:31-33 c) Rev. 20:11-12 It is the judgment seat of God in contrast to a human judgment (Rom. 14:11-12). Even the perfect Servant committed His work to His God (Isa. 49:4). Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, will be the judge (John 5:22, 27; Acts 10:42; Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:16). Believers won't be judged or condemned there (John 3:18; 1 Cor. 11:32; Rom. 8:1). They will appear there with glorified bodies (2 Cor. 5:10). The appearing of the saints before the judgment seat will take place between the rapture and the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-8). All deeds will be rewarded there (2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 3:13). We have to give account of all our words (Matt. 12:36). The counsels of the heart will be made manifest (1 Cor. 4:5). Hidden things will be brought to light (1 Cor. 4:5; Rom. 2:16). Faithfulness in service will be rewarded (Matt. 25:21). The position of the believer in the kingdom depends on the verdict at the judgment seat (Luke 19:17). Present personal faithfulness bears upon the future collective part of the church (Rev. 19:8). Each one has to give account of himself (Rom. 14:12). A servant may lose reward by the unfaithfulness of those whom he was instrumental in bringing to the Saviour (1 John 2:28; 2 John 8). It is possible to suffer loss at the judgment seat (1 Cor. 3:14-15; Rev. 3:11). The thought of the judgment seat encourages us to be well-pleasing to Him (2 Cor. 5:9). To walk in the light of the judgment seat will give us a good conscience (1 Cor. 4:4; l John 2:28). Because Christ will be the judge we fulfil the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:11ff). The truth of the judgment seat makes us respect the freedom of others in matters of Christian liberty (Rom. 14). Statements 1-4 speak about the Judge. Statements 5-7 speak about the believer and the judgment seat. Statements 8-17 speak about what happens at the judgment seat. Statements 18-21 speak about the present result in a believer's life when he is occupied with the truth of the judgment seat.

"The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son; that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father." (John 5:22-23.) The Father "hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is Son of man." (Ver. 27.)

All judgment has been given into the hand of the Son, and the reason for this the Lord has told us is, "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father" (John 5:22-23). But a few verses after, we read that the Father has given the Son "authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man" (John 5:27). Men have taken the occasion of the Son's Manhood to deny His deity, but the Father has taken good care that men should realise who the Son is. If men refuse to bow before the Son in the day of God's grace, they will be compelled to bow before Him in the day of judgment.

The principle of that which we have in the Apocalypse seems established in that which we find presented in John 5 "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. That all men should honour. the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. … For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 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." So also in Acts 10:36-42, "The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead." Acts 17:30-31, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."

Other scriptures inform us as to the warrior judgments to be executed by Christ in person, when at Armageddon the mighty armies of the various kings of the earth will be destroyed. These judgments however will still leave multitudes of non-combatants, and all these must pass before the scrutiny of the Son of Man, for only He can discriminate and disentangle with unerring wisdom. He will do this as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats; and the issues depending on His judgment will be eternal, just as they will be in the judgment of the great white throne. Also here, as there, men will be judged according to their works.

A. It is revealed distinctly that men will be judged according to their works. Old and New Testaments are equally clear. "For all these things God will bring thee into judgment" (Ecclesiastes 11:9). "For God shall bring every work into judgment with every hidden thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). "God shall judge the secrets of men according to my gospel by Jesus Christ" (Romans 2:16). "The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books according to their works … They were judged every man [each] according to their works" (Revelation 20:12-13). Such is man's portion, death, and after this judgment; for he is sinful and lost. But grace has intervened after the sin and before the judgment. God has sent His son to save all who believing receive life in Him Who died and bore their judgment on the cross, and who manifest life in a fruit-bearing course here below. Hence the Lord Who is to judge has Himself ruled that the believer comes not into judgment. Even while here he has passed out of death into life. But none the less must we all, the whole of us absolutely, be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things [done] by the body, according to what he did, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). This will be true of all, saint or sinner, not all at the same time, but each at the time and in the way and with the aim as well as result laid down in other scriptures. The careful reader will note "manifested" is the word where the faithful are included, "judged" is confined to those who refusing divine mercy in Christ must own judgment to be righteous.

From either end of the mercy-seat was a cherub beaten out of the one solid piece of gold, hence mercy-seat and cherubim were one in the sense of divine glory. The cherubim are mentioned in the Scriptures in relation to the execution of judgment, or, at least, in relation to the display of the righteous ways of God respecting man's sin. Thus divine glory in mercy and in judgment are represented as one, in the single piece of gold which was beaten out into the forms of both cover and cherubim; the glory was undivided. Now, not only the mercy of God, but the mercy and the judgment of God, are precisely revealed in Christ. As an example, these words of Christ may be quoted — "As the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also. …. The Father. … hath committed all judgment unto the Son." (John 5:26-27, 22.) Christ is both Life Giver and Judge. To Him, as Judge, man must give account, and from Him, as Life, man receives eternal life.

"And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." It is a careful and divine discrimination — not a mere act of vengeance which deals with masses, in which all might be overwhelmed in common ruin. He separates them one from another. At the great white throne, where the dead stand to be judged, there is no need of separating them there. But here there is a mingled company. Such a mixture is never found in heaven or hell, but only on the earth. Thus every clause gives proof that our Lord speaks of a judgment of the living on the earth. He separates them "as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." It follows that the persons meant by "the sheep" and "the goats" are respectively the righteous and the ungodly among the nations then living on the earth, when our Lord comes to judge in His quality of Son of Man. It is not now what we have seen in Matthew 24, where He shines suddenly like lightning. Here it is the calm, but most solemn judgment, with everlasting results, according to the discrimination which the Lord makes between individuals. When the judgment of the dead takes place before the great white throne, the heavens and earth are fled away; so that the Lord must have come before then, or there would be no earth as it is now to come to, as we all confess He shall come.

Besides the leading corruptress and fountain-head of the mischief, we have two classes of persons mentioned who were guilty in a positive way. There were Christ's servants whom she deceived to illicit commerce with the world, and there were others who were the immediate offspring of Jezebel, "her children." With each one the Lord would deal according to his works. He was the righteous Judge, and man as such must be judged, and all, saints or sinners, must be manifested before His judgment-seat. Yet it is remarkable how the Lord avoids saying that the saints will be judged. "I will give," says He, to you, to each according to your works;" and so in Revelation 22:12, and many similar scriptures. On the one hand we are positively told that the believer shall not come into judgment (for John 5:24 means "judgment" and not "condemnation," however certainly this is the result of it). On the other hand we know from Rev. 20:12-13, that the wicked are to stand before the throne, and to be judged, each one according to their works. Their resurrection is one of judgment (and in effect, of condemnation) contrasted with that of the righteous, which is a life-resurrection. Thus it is certain, that if put on my trial for salvation or perdition, according as my works deserve, I must be lost, for I have sinned and have sin; yet is it equally sure that the Lord is not unrighteous to forget the work and labour of love, and so He will give to each one according to his works. Christ Himself, Christ's love, is the only right motive for a Christian in anything; but there are rewards for those who have suffered for Christ and been cast out for righteousness' or for His name's sake.