Today's Reading: Psalm 43 (Introit for Judica)
Daily Lectionary: Genesis 49: 29-50:7; Mark 14:1-11
“Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man for You are the God of my strength;” (Psalm 43:1-2)
Happy Lent! In the name of Jesus. Amen. “Don’t judge me. Who are you to judge me?” If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that, I wouldn’t have to write Reflections!
It’s true, you aren’t given to judge your neighbor. But, too often those words are used to skirt God’s Word judging us. We do what we want to do, and God comes to us in His Word and we flash our Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card, “Don’t judge me.”
But God is unavoidable. He isn’t playing with your deck. His deck is holy and it’s always right. When He applies His Word to you, He’s always right—whether you believe or agree with Him or not. His judgments never fail.
So what do we do when God turns the light of His law upon us? What do we do when His judgment finds us? We tell him, “Judica.” That’s “Judge me, O God.” We pray to Him to judge us!
What?? If He judges us, He will condemn us for our sins and we will be lost. Do we really want God to judge us?
Yes, we do. For If we do not have God judge us as righteous, we will not be saved. But how do we, who are unrighteous, receive a judgment as "righteous" from God?
Jesus. Judge Jesus in my place, God. What you would reward Him for, give that to me. What you would have for Him, give it all to me, instead.
And so, we are again at the Cross, where Jesus earns our righteousness. He suffers and dies for our vindication—to rescue us from the pending judgment that we have coming to us. There, God judges His Son so that we would never be judged by God.
All that Jesus deserves, we have received by faith in Christ. What Jesus earned is ours in our Baptism. What Jesus has is delivered to us in His Word. The righteousness that God requires of us, He gives us by faith in His Son.
How do we escape God’s judgment? We don’t. We pray for it. God judge me by Jesus alone. Don’t look at my sins, look at Jesus instead. Don’t look at my works, look at Jesus’ works. Don’t look at me at all! Instead, judge Jesus instead.
Want to have a happy Lent? It’s right here: Judica. Judge me. Judge me in Jesus alone. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
“Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” (Psalm 43: 3-5)