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<noinclude><pagequality level="1" user="" /></noinclude>JUNE

15, 1947

~eWATCHTOWER

them that look for him shall he appear the second
time without sin unto salvation."-Heb. 9: 25-28.
23 Christ Jesus manifestly came for a positive
purpose, not for a "ministration of condemnation"
like that of Moses when mediating the law covenant
with Israel. He came for a work of salvation in vindication of God's name and sovereignty. All those
saved will be delivered to the everlasting obedience
to God's universal sovereignty. Hence Jesus said to
the Jewish ruler: "God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved. He that believeth on
him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this
is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. For everyone that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that
doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may
be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."
(John 3: 17-21) Thus, while Jesus was not sent into
the world expressly to condemn mankind by a "ministration of condemnation", there were many that were
condemned in connection with his coming and presence. This was true, although the judgment of all
the world, Jew and Gentile, had not yet come.
U Jesus said: "I am come a light into the world,
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in
darkness. And if any man hear my words, and
believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge
the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth
me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall
judge him in the last day." (John 12: 46-48) From
this we gather the thought that then, at his first
coming, which was in the flesh, he did not come to
start a judgment day of all humankind. That would
come "in the last day". He confined his preaching
and activities strictly to the Israelites or Jews, and
this put the Israelites specially on trial before God.
On this basis Jesus did not contradict what we have
quoted above when he said in the hearing of the J ewish Pharisees: "For judgment I am come into this
world, that they which see not might see; and that
they which see might be made blind."-John 9: 39.
25 The man that had been sightless from birth and
whom Jesus had healed said in answer to the question, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God 1" "Lord,
I believe," and then worshiped Jesus. But the Pharisees heard Jesus say that many who claimed to have
spiritual sight would be made blind, and so they said
to him: "Are we blind also T" And Jesus replied: "If
23. With what positive purpose dld Jesus come in the flesh?
24. How did he not come to judge the world, yet come for judgment?
25. What jud~ent8 came upon the seeing ones and the blind?

185

ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say,
We see; therefore your sin remaineth." (John 9: 35,
38,40,41) It is beyond contradiction, then, that the
presence and the preaching and the works of the Son
of God put the Israelites on trial. The whole nation
of Israel as such entered into a day of judgment.
There was a division of the Israelites into the spiritually blind and the spiritually seeing ones. The ones
that saw by having faith such as their forefather
Abraham had saw that Jesus was the Son of God,
the promised Seed of Abraham for their blessing.
They proved themselves to be real children of faithful Abraham, because they did not trust in any selfrighteousness of their own by the works of the
Mosaic law-covenant. All these were harvested from
among the nation of Israel and brought into J ehovah's Theocratic organization under Christ the Seed
of Abraham. All the rest of the nation continued
under condemnation and the curse of the law covenant that they had not kept.
2S Concerning that season of judgment and the
division of the nation into two classes John the
Baptist said this as a prophet: "And even now the
axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,
and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you in water
unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to
bear: he shall baptize you with the holy spirit and in
fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his
wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up
with unquenchable fire." (Matt. 3: 10-12, Am. Stan.
V er.) Of necessity, Jesus as the tree chopper or as
the harvester with the fan or winnowing fork had
to act as judge, to determine which trees to chop
down and destroy with fire and to decide which
Israelites were wheat to be baptized with the holy
spirit and which were chaff to be baptized with fiery
destruction. Hence that was a national judgment
day, from which only a remnant of natural Israelites came forth bearing the Kingdom fruits like good
fruit-bearing trees and like spirit-baptized wheat
preserved within Christ's Theocratic organization.
With reference to that national judgment-day or
harvest Jesus said to his apostles: "Lift up your
eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white
already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth
wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that
both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice
together. I sent you to reap." (John 4: 35, 36, 38)
That harvest-judgment ended with Jerusalem's fiery
end A.D. 70.
27 At Jesus' first coming to the Israelites, therefore, he came to carry out God's judgment long ago
26. How was it a judgment day as deacribed by John the Baptist?
27. Why should we today take that judgment of Israel seriously?

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