Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Isaiah 11:3-5
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 4, 2022

What’s your favorite picture of Jesus? Jesus as a shepherd, holding a lamb? Jesus as a baby at Christmas? Jesus in the carpenter’s shop? Jesus as king? Jesus on the cross or walking out of the tomb on Easter morning? Out of all the most beloved pictures of Jesus, there’s one picture that’s conspicuously missing. The picture of Jesus as a Judge. I’m not sure if there is any less-loved or more misunderstood title for our Savior than “Judge”. We love to hear about Jesus as “Savior” or “Friend”, but Judge? Not so much. Whether it’s because of American  individualism which hates the idea of authority, or the often-misunderstood and despised idea of “being judged” in our culture, or just the inherently sinful self which runs away from accountability, the picture of Jesus as a Judge is not popular. Have you ever been fishing and spent more time pulling off weeds than actually catching fish? That’s what we need to do today with Jesus as a judge.  We must peel off the weeds of human thinking that have attached themselves to Jesus and then cast an open mind onto this picture of a judge. We need to start fresh—to be reintroduced to Jesus as Judge by his own Word, by the Scriptures alone.

That’s what we find in Isaiah 11 today, a description of the promised Savior as a Judge. This is not a picture of oppressive authority, nor is it meek and mild. It is not even a judicial scene, which we sometimes get the sense of in the New Testament. It’s something unique. This is a description of Jesus, 700 years before he came. It is a description that God gave of himself which he wanted to be recognized when he came. Just by this fact, we should recognize that no human pictures will quite fit here because only Jesus, the Son of God, fits this description. No one else before or after can match this. The God who does not judge by appearance wants us to recognize the distinctness of Christ, not in his appearance, but in the way he judges!

We read in our translation that “He will be delighted with the fear of the Lord.” The original actually reads, “his breathing is in the fear of the Lord”. As in, he breathes in and out the reverence and knowledge of God. He will walk and talk exuding the wisdom of the Lord. “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, nor will he render decisions based on what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and he will render fair decisions in favor of the oppressed on the earth.” This is reminiscent of God’s words to the prophet Samuel, which had to do with making the right judgment in who should be king, that is, not the bigger older sons of Jesse, but the ruddy little shepherd boy, David. God told Samuel, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” [1 Sam 16:7] The ideal king breathes the wisdom of God and this, rather than appearance guides his judgment. He doesn’t need eyes. He doesn’t listen to testimonies. He doesn’t weigh the evidence. He isn’t persuaded by carefully contrived arguments. He looks straight through to the heart and judges in perfect righteousness.

This is fully verified in Jesus, isn’t it? He could look past appearances and in an instant determine people’s motives. He could immediately declare Nathanael an Israelite in whom there was no deceit. He could see the pride in the Rich Young man that had formed a shackle around his heart. Or how about time and time again are we satisfied when he knows the thoughts and addresses hypocritical Pharisees? (Wouldn’t that be handy?) Isaiah says, you want to know the Son of God when he shows up? This is how you can tell! Watch how he judges! And Jesus is the only one that fits! Jesus knew the repentance of the destitute and gladly forgave the sins of many outcasts because he knew their faith was genuine. Jesus welcomed and warned sinners with no respect to their advantages, their heritage or their riches, their reputation or status in the world. He could smell the hollowness of pretension and patiently stoked the smoldering wick of faith in the doubting. He had one measure for the rich and the poor, for the mighty and the meek; he showed unvarying kindness towards the humble. Whether they were a cripple or a commander, a tax collector or a leader in faith.  The testimony of his enemies was true even though they meant to flatter him: “Teacher, we know that you are honest and do not play favorites, since you are not partial to anyone, but you teach the way of God on the basis of the truth.” (Mk 12:14)

This ability to judge is the unique characteristic that Isaiah pulls out here in chapter 11 that he wants us to hold dear. This characteristic of Jesus, the Lord thinks, should be something we stop and stare at. In other words, we should stand in thankful awe at Jesus’ ability to judge! Isn’t this a beautiful picture of Christ? He always makes the right decision, he knows exactly what is needed, he isn’t deceived, he always knows the truth. I don’t know about you, but I often feel confused. Who to trust, who to believe? So many voices, so many strong opinions, so many facades, and lies, so many passionate pleas…Come, Lord Jesus, as our Judge! Come and give us your wisdom! Come and teach us to breathe in the Fear of the Lord.  Teach me not to judge with my eyes. Let me judge myself and others in righteousness!  Free me from varying standards of right and wrong, and let me only be led you will! Don’t you long for a judge like Jesus?

Isaiah continues: He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath from his lips he will put the wicked to death. ⁵ Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his hips. This isn’t a picture of God flexing his muscles or rolling up his sleeves. He doesn’t need to. Just a whisper from his lips is enough to destroy the wicked. This is true power and true authority. There is no struggle, no fight. No need for a show of force. He simply speaks, as he did at Creation to bring life, and death comes for the wicked. With a Word, Jesus calmed the seas or killed the fig tree. This is a picture of Christ! Righteousness and faithfulness are pictured as his belt. The belt was the piece that held together the armor of ancient warriors. In context, his judgments are encircled and held together by righteousness and faithfulness. Think of that, when Jesus judges, whether in forgiveness or condemnation, we can be certain that it is good and right—that he is faithful and righteous.

This is really the main reason why we should love the picture of Jesus as our Judge. We know that when he looks, he looks straight through us. He sees everything. He doesn’t judge based on comparison, he judges based on the Fear of the Lord. He knows that we have fallen hopelessly short of God’s holiness. He knows that in his faithfulness and righteousness we should perish by his breath—that we should have no part with God. And yet, what do we find out about our judge? That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That Jesus knows you and me in our very worst moments and yet still chose to give himself for us.

Listen to what Isaiah writes about our Judge in chapter 53: He grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root (note the connection to chapter 11 here) from dry ground. He had no attractiveness and no majesty. When we saw him, nothing about his appearance made us desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men (The Judge is misjudged), a man who knew grief, who was well acquainted with suffering…4 Surely he was taking up our weaknesses, and he was carrying our sufferings…He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Your Judge laid down his perfect life for you. He drank his own condemnation and wrapped you in his righteousness. In ultimate authority and righteousness, based on his sacrifice and love, he faithfully declares you forgiven. He declares you perfect under his own name! That’s your Judge! And one day, he will come and establish his justice forever.

On Monday this past week, I received a phone call from a pastor in Green Bay to visit a member of his who was just taken off life-support at a hospital here in Madison. I was able to visit him on Wednesday before the Lord took him home. It was a relatively normal day for me, but for him it was the day he would meet his Judge. He was barely conscious, racked by involuntary convulsions. But they say that hearing is one of the last senses to go and I was thankful for the opportunity to be with him. I was thankful to tell him that the one who judges his soul declares him forgiven. I was thankful to sing hymns about the righteousness and faithfulness of Christ. I was thankful to think that one day Jesus, our Judge, will destroy the ugliness of sin and death once and for all. I was thankful that I didn’t have to judge this man’s future by appearances. I was thankful to say “Come, Lord Jesus, as Judge!” I pray you are too.