St. Paul says that Christ is Lord of both the dead and the living. Why then do you judge your brother or sister? To understand the not too obvious connection between Christ’s Lordship and the command not to judge we might look at a poem, “Invictus” by W.E. Henley, which has the line: “I am the master of my fate, /I am the captain of my soul.” St. Paul would disagree with that sentiment — Jesus is our captain, our master. It is heeding him and his word that assures our fate. The reason, therefore, that we are not to judge is that that we are all in the same boat — in need of God’s gracious mercy. We can’t judge how God is working within others.
