Father, have mercy upon us, as we have mercy upon others
We've looked at the end of our mortal/natural existence over the past few weeks, but who makes the final decision as to whether we pass or fail?
The answer to that is Jesus Christ?
Everything we've done, everything we've said will be taken into account. Jesus was born, lived and died so that he could experience life as we live it now. He had his problems, he suffered, he lost loved ones, he was tempted. That puts him in a unique position of those in Heaven, to experience just what we experience. He knows just how hard things are for us, because he had the same problems. People stole from him (John 12:6). People hated him (John 15:25). He went hungry (Matt4:2). He didn't have anywhere to live (Luke9:58). If anything he had more problems than we have – he was betrayed by one of his friends, even to death.
Where we have hope is that Christ died that our sins may be forgiven, through baptism. Baptism is a way of expressing our faith, our commitment to Jesus Christ. It is also a way to life. Our old body died and was buried in the waters, we then rise to a new life and a new hope.
As long as we continue to follow Christ, to apologise when we fail, he will remain true to us. It's a bit like having the best lawyer to plead our case, but in this case he is also the judge! Having someone like that on our side means that we can never fail.
But just how do we get him on our side?
The answer to that is simply to be on his side. The follow his commandments; to love God and love our neighbour, to be baptised in his name, to remember him in bread and wine and to preach the Good News to those around us. We need to treat others around us with the same love and conviction that we would like Christ to show to us. Do we judge others? Do we forgive? (See Romans 2:3)
1 Corinthians 4:4,5 has these words of advice;
"For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God."
Unfortunately, some will fail the test. Some will be like the foolish virgins; they won't be ready, and instead of waiting with an apology, they went out into the world to try to do things their way. We always have to be ready, even if it is with an apology. Jesus knows us. He knows how hard we try. As long as we do what we can, for his glory, he will always be on our side and we will have nothing to fear.