You Shall Not Condemn by Jennifer M. McBride

Author:Jennifer M. McBride [McBride, Jennifer M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781725263765
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2022-06-15T23:36:32+00:00

Jennifer said she told you that the new warden here at Metro pulled me out of the “theology certificate program.” I was hurt and very upset— to say the least. Even though I can’t go to class, class (the instructors) has been coming to me. I continue to do and turn in my work. What God has for me no one—not even the warden—can take it away.

Thank you for answering my 2 questions. I just did one of my final papers of this quarter of the theology program on the resurrection. I loved your insight about the “resurrection from the dead will happen immediately after death, or better in death.” According to the New Testament, the resurrection of Jesus meant that he who gave himself as the Suffering Servant of God is now revealed to be the triumphant Lord. He who came preaching the kingdom of God is now seen to be the Sovereign King of the kingdom! The resurrection happened in this world. For Jesus himself and for us it means the renewal of human life, not escape from it. The resurrection, I believe, does not have to do only with the significance of Jesus for us after we die and leave this world. It has to do with our lives here and now, also.

But, should I believe what realized eschatology holds that the coming of Jesus and especially his resurrection means that the long hoped-for kingdom of God is a present reality, here and now?

The Gospels tell us that during his earthly ministry Jesus fed the hungry, defended the cause of the poor and outcast, healed the sick, raised the dead, comforted the sorrowing, forgave sinners and gave them a new start of life, demonstrated his power over evil spirits that “possessed” and destroyed the bodies, minds and souls of people. For the first Christians, Jesus’ compassion for outsiders and his miracles were more than signs of his care for needy individuals; they were signs that the loving and just rule of God on earth was not just something to be expected in the distant or even near future but something that was happening before the very eyes of those who encountered him. Jesus’ death and resurrection, then, were only the final confirmation of his kingdom—bringing life. In the earthly and risen Jesus, God’s will was and is being done on earth as it is in heaven. In him God’s Kingdom has already come and is a present reality for all who “have eyes to see and ears to hear.” Those are just my thoughts.

You asked me to read Psalm 96 and 98. When God comes in the Bible God’s justice is not something terrible to be avoided but a great blessing to be hoped for and received with joy and thanksgiving. This is why Calvin can say in Question 87 of the Geneva Catechism: “We should not then fear the last judgment and have horror of it? No, since we are not to come before any judge than he who is our advocate, and who has taken our cause in hand to defend us.

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