“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise’… The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.’” (John 5:19, 22-23)
It isn’t uncommon to hear a Christian say something like, “I worship the God of the New Testament. The Old Testament God is too angry and judgmental.”
It’s an understandable sentiment if one myopically focuses on the violence God reigns down throughout the Old Testament – against both the enemies of God and the people of God. However, it’s still a theologically misguided notion.
This is made abundantly clear in the way Jesus talks about His (and our) Father. The first part of the quotation above makes it clear that the love, grace, charity, kindness, gentleness, good-with-kids-ness we see in Jesus is who the Father is. “The Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing.” That means that whatever we see Jesus do, then this is what God (the Father) does.
The point about judgment is also easily rebuked by Jesus’ words here. “The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son.” God (the Father) is not judgmental. And who does Jesus judge? Well, given the way He shouts out “Father forgive them” while hanging on a cross, the simplest answer is no one. Jesus did not come to judge/condemn the world, but to save the world. This means that God is not condemning/judging the world, but is saving the world through the Son.
It is important, for the sake of our souls and our Christian discipleship, to truly, honestly love our Heavenly Father, to be enamored with who He is, how He acts, what He has done. If too many Old Testament readings are dragging down your perception of God, then do yourself the favor of seeing the Father the way Jesus, the Son, sees the Father. See the Father as the one who returns men and women in the military home safe to their families. See the Father as the one who holds the grieving survivors after the death of a beloved matriarch. See the Father as the one who takes special interest in the poor, the needy, the incarcerated, the lonely, and the vulnerable. For it is God (the Father) who does all these things. Amen.
