the Will to Salvation

Here's a couple of passages from the Gospel of Matthew, once again taking on the three way relationship between the Manifestation of God, His servants, and the world. Right off the bat we see the authority that belongs to God being delegated to His servants.

Then Peter answered and said, "Look, we have left everything and followed you.
What are we to have, then?" Jesus said to to them, "In truth I tell you, when
everything is made new again and the Son of man is seated on his throne of
glory, you yourselves will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of
Israel."

Mt 19.27-28

When the Son of man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All nations will be assembled before him and he will separate people one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats.

Mt 25.31-32

So who is it that's doing the judging? Is it Jesus or is it the Apostles? Didn't Jesus say "Do not judge?" One way of looking at it is that the Apostles are to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, while Jesus judges all the other nations. But certainly there is room for another interpretation, one less overly cautious: that the Apostles, or more broadly the followers of Jesus, are the means by which the Son of man separates the sheep from the goats. We already see this theme within the Gospels. In chapter 10, verses 14-16 Jesus is commissioning the Apostles to go out and spread the Good News.

And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. In truth I tell you, on the Day of Judgment it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. Look I send you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as snakes and yet innocent as doves.

Besides for the implication that the servants are instruments of the master's authority, there is a certain moral aspect that this entails for the servant. Jesus instructs the Apostles to walk a hard and narrow road being cunning as snakes and yet as innocent as doves. Handled poorly, cunning and innocence could undermine the Apostolic mission. So, innocence cannot mean weakness or indifference. Nor can cunning mean rapaciousness, or liquidating one's enemies. Thus, the Apostles must embody a certain expertise if they are to carry out their mission. Innocence must mean rigorous spiritual discipline, such that no-one can call into question their character. And cunning must mean practical wisdom, thinking on one's feet, and making good judgments. These two things cannot undermine each other. Because at stake here is the destiny of humanity, and the urgency that comes with any matters pertaining to the Day of Judgment.

Before I go too much further I want to clarify what I mean by judgment. By no means should it mean looking down on people, or being bigoted in any way. Rather, it means the basic faculty of making sense of the world, of deciding between the true and the false. Often times (and I mean very often), the way a person makes sense of the world is to look down on others. This is why Jesus argues that this is like placing oneself on the throne of glory on the Day of Judgment. This is because there is certainly an analogy between separating the true from the false, and the sheep from the goats. Nonetheless, making sense of the world and deciding between the true and the false is a necessary part of human existence. For this reason, when Jesus says do not judge he cannot mean that we should stop making judgments. Rather he must mean that we should be mindful that we are not God, and our word is not the final word. He may have other judgments in mind than the ones that we pronounce.

Yesterday, I pointed out a tension between the expertise of the Divine Physician and the exhortation to be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in. In brief, the tension is in determining who has the authority to decide what to do in particular situations. Is it Baha'u'llah, by way of his writings, or does he delegate it to humanity? My conclusion was that the decision rests with humanity. But it is Baha'u'llah who empowers us through the cultivation of our minds, bodies, and souls to make that decision. The Word of God is in one sense a law to which we are bound. In another sense, it is the key that activates the light contained in each and every one of us. The implication is that God's salvation doesn't just come through the implementation of divine teachings, (though this is just as important as is already commonly understood). It comes also through our own activities, decisions, and judgments. In short, it can come about through our own will. God commissions us to will, but the willing itself is up to us. Our free decisions can thus be the manifestation of God's salvation. No doubt, this is a mighty responsibility. God willing, there are people who will respond adequately.

At this point I want to make an equation between Baha'u'llah's instructions to be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in and to center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements and Jesus' instruction to be cunning as snakes yet innocent as doves. For both of these demand a recognition on a moral level from the servants that their actions and choices are deeply involved in the processes of salvation, judgment, resurrection, and justice that God has set in motion.

In this way, we are not spectators. We are the spectacle itself. God willing, our judgments will be the unfolding of His saving justice.