​Waiting for the verdict of Judge Jesus Christ

If you have ever entered Balmoral Show, as a livestock exhibitor, then what I am about to say will strike a familiar chord with you, as you have spent many months preparing for ‘the big day’. If it is a calf, or lamb from this year’s crop, you have had your eye on this particular animal from pretty much the moment they were born. As you watched them grow, you quietly thought to yourself, ‘We have a real one here.’

You have been ever so careful to feed, but not over-feed, your ewe, bull, or whatever you are hoping to exhibit. The clipping and trimming you are permitted to do was done, and re-done, with patient precision.

But, no matter how much preparation, and no matter how carefully you have done it, when you walk into the exhibition ring, you always wonder, ‘Could I have done more? Should I have handled that bull more regularly, led them further, got them more used to people?’ The judging ring forces you to examine yourself. The judging ring is a nerve-wracking experience!

Now, if it is stressful to go into the judging ring at Balmoral Show, wondering if you have done enough to get the verdict, how much more so would it be to face The Judge? Take a moment to imagine what it will be like to one day face God’s Son, Judge Jesus, trusting in yourself, while all the time having this gnawing concern, ‘Have I done enough to please Judge Jesus?’

If, for some reason, you or I were to think that Judge Jesus will be a soft touch, it might be wise to consider beforehand, just as you would with any judge at Balmoral, ‘What will The Judge be looking for? If I achieve a fifty percent score in the Game of Life, will that please Him? Could I scrape through with twenty?’ Well, Jesus tells us what God’s standard is, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

Now that is a standard that we know we cannot meet. Don’t we sometimes say, ‘Nobody’s perfect’? In our more self-aware moments, we admit to ourselves that we are far from perfect. Five minutes speaking to my family will supply you with a long list of my failings. (I suspect you are not unlike me). And God’s Word, the Bible, reinforces this view: “…no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by works of the law” (Romans 3:20).

In other words, if I try to live up to God’s perfect law, which is a reflection of God’s perfect character, I will NOT be declared right with God. Quite the opposite; I will be condemned and lost from Him forever.

What, then, can we do? Just one thing – put your trust, not in yourself, but only in Jesus. For, as God’s Word encourages us, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

When we have our trust in Jesus and not ourselves, we will not have to nervously wait for The Judge’s verdict, uncertain of how it will turn out when we meet Him. Instead, we can live and die in peaceful, certain hope. For, as an old hymn explains, ‘The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.’ What does that mean, for us? The second we trust in Jesus, God’s ‘Not Guilty’ verdict has already been decisively declared, for certain and forever.

With Balmoral Show taking place next week, if you plan to attend the Show, we would love to see you on the Dromore Presbytery stand: EK 53, in the Eikon Shopping Village. Light refreshments, and seats for tired weary legs, will be wrapped up in a warm welcome.

Rev Kenny Hanna is the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s first Rural Chaplain. Growing up on the family farm in the Kingdom of Mourne, he began serving in parish ministry in 2001 in Glenwherry. Prior to his appointment as Rural Chaplain, he was minister of Second Dromara Presbyterian Church for 10 years. He continues to farm part-time. If you would like to talk to someone about any of the issues raised in this article, please email Kenny at [email protected] or call him on 07938 488 372.