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Theology - Liturgical: Eucharistic meditation

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Acts 24:24-25: But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you.”

If a Roman governor asked you to appear to talk about “faith in Jesus,” what would you say? You’d talk about the fall, sin, the cross, the resurrection. Depending on how evangelical you were, you might call the Roman governor to personal faith, a personal relationship with Jesus.

Most likely, you would not talk about righteousness, or self-control, and definitely not about judgment to come. That’s only going to scare him, and then you lose the chance to win a convert.

That’s not the way Paul did things.

For him, preaching judgment is part of preaching faith in Jesus. When he preaches to the philosophers at Mars Hill, Paul says the same thing: God has raised up Jesus and appointed a day when the world will be judged in righteousness. Stephen does it too: He compares Jesus to Moses, who was rejected with the complaint “We do not want this man as ruler and judge over us.”

The gospel is all about resurrection, and for that very reason, it is all about judgment, about the appointment of a universal Judge. For Paul and the apostles, announcing that Jesus is raised immediately leads to the announcement that He will judge all men according to their works.

This may not seem like good news, but it is, and Job knew it. When the world is under the control of Satan the accuser, judgment is good news. When the halls of power are occupied by men and women who think it’s OK to slaughter unborn babies, you want judgment. When the police are rounding up and arresting Christians, you want judgment. When the bombs are falling and you don’t know why, judgment is good news.

This table celebrates the death of Jesus, which is the judgment of this world. This table celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, which is the Father’s judgment that Jesus is the Righteous one. This table celebrates the exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of the Father, as the One who will judge the world in righteousness.

This table is a table of joy because it is a table of judgment. Here we rejoice because He comes, He comes to judge the earth.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, July 5, 2009 at 6:40 am

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Theology - Liturgical: Eucharistic meditation

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