No Condemnation - A Reflection on Luke 6:27-38


 But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.      
                                                                     
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

 “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” We normally hear this just before the collection box is passed around don’t we, but as we can see, the context of the verse is actually mercy and forgiveness. Jesus is saying that the more mercy and forgiveness we extend towards others, the more mercy and forgiveness we will receive ourselves. 

 

And we need it, don’t we? People do wrong things sometimes. Some people do wrong things often. These things may not be out of malice, but out of human weakness. An alcoholic, for instance, bonded by years of habit may not be able to resist the lure of the bottle, and consequently do stupid things. A mentally ill person may not be able to act in the manner that a normal person would, and might do things that most of us wouldn’t. A very lonely person depressed to the point of being suicidal might reach out to someone he is not entitled to for comfort. Very often, we cannot see beyond the act. But God does.

 

I have done many things I shouldn’t have done when I didn’t know Christ. But even after coming to know him I have done things I know I shouldn’t, with far less excuse. Like Paul, I cry out: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” But then Paul has the answer, as we all do. “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (see Romans 7:14:-8:39).

 

There is no condemnation for those of us who are in Jesus Christ. What does this mean? To be "in Christ Jesus" means that when it comes to divine judgment, we do not stand before God alone, but with the righteousness of Christ. We have received this righteousness from God that comes by faith. (See Romans 1:17) So, in Christ, our sins have been forgiven and there is no condemnation. Now I just want you to think about this for a moment.

 

There is only one person who has the right to judge us and that is God. If God, who has the right to judge, chooses to show us mercy, how can we who are so desperately in need of this mercy, judge others? I want us to seriously think about this today, because we often go about condemning others, which we should be forgiving. A thief was condemned by people like us, but at the very last moment dying next to Jesus on the cross, he repented. And what do you think Jesus did?

 

So let us forgive. And we will be forgiven. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured out into our laps. For the measure we give will be the measure we get back!

 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/KgsJ9IbU23c

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