usurping

“I know he’s a Christian but I don’t like him. Well, learn to like him now because you are going to be spending eternity with him.” ~ Heard on the Turning Point radio program with Dr. David Jeremiah.

Jesus the Judge

For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.
John 5:22

Some of the most scathing words recorded in the Bible are those of Jesus in Matthew 23:13-39—the section where He passes judgment on the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Seven times He says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees!" He accuses them of being hypocrites, blind guides, blind fools, blind men, and snakes, and says they are like dirty dishes and tombs—clean on the outside but dirty on the inside.

Is this the same Jesus who said, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1)? Yes, the very same. So is Jesus the hypocrite in this case—telling others not to judge but acting like a judge Himself? No, because He knew why He had been sent into the world. Jesus knew that the Father has "committed all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22). Jesus' entire life—His words and His works—was a judgment on this fallen world. On occasion, He put those judgments into specific words as He did with the Pharisees. And He will do it again when He returns as Judge of the nations at His Second Coming.

We are not to judge one another because God has "committed all judgment to the Son." When we place ourselves over others as judge, we are usurping a place given by God to Jesus alone.

No man's conscience is to be a judge for another.
Charles H. Spurgeon