More about heaven and Final Judgment

OK, now I'm beginning to get annoyed. I keep seeing references to this belief that people who die are in some sort of sleep with God until the Final Judgment and Resurrection of the Body. This is a Prot thing because it's sure not a Catholic thing. I suspect if you pull the thread you will find closeted new agers behind it, especially those who think they are "reincarnated St. Paul." I'm going to just put forward two more thoughts about this to add to what I've already written.



So.... is Hitler resting in the hand of God until the Final Judgment? Pol Pot? Stalin? Individuals who have died unrepentent of atrocious crimes? I mean, if no one is judged until the End of Times, the Final Judgment, are these dudes resting in God's hand too until then?



Consider what Jesus said, in his own words:



Serpents, brood of vipers, how are you to escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, behold, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them you will put to death, and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from town to town; that upon you may come all the just blood that has been shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the just unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. Amen I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation (Matthew 23:32-36).



OK, so Jesus asks the people he is debating with how are they "to escape the judgment of hell." He is asking people standing right in front of them how they will escape being judged and put into hell. Does this sound like something they don't need to worry about until the End of Days and Final Judgment? Jesus explicitly says "all these things will come upon this generation." Jesus cites examples of just prophets who has been murdered. Jesus does not say that "This is the type of thing you need to worry about when the new Kingdom is restored." There is a huge difference between the Kingdom and individual judgment! What is a Kingdom? A Kingdom is a collective community under a king. (Duh). At the End of Days when the Final Judgment takes place the Kingdom, with resurrected bodies, is established. But this does not mean that people evade personal judgment until then! Who needs a definition for the word "final." Final, by definition means there was at least one preceding instance of judgment. Jesus does not call it the First Judgment or the Only Judgment. It is called the Final Judgment because it is the last of the judgments and there is a collective assembly of those who will resurrect and be part of the Kingdom to Come. It is when all of the living people are judged individually. Remember Jesus speaks of the wheat and the chaff. Each person alive at the End of Times receives individual judgment as being either saved (wheat grain) or chaff (the empty coating of the grain). But this is simply the collective disposition of all who remain alive at the End of Times following the individual judgment that all who have died have already received. It's not like God has a "backlog" of people "asleep" in heaven awaiting judgment. In the passage I cite above Jesus is warning the people in the here and now in front of him in the strongest terms that they individually face the judgment of hell. This means there is a personal judgment that takes place immediately upon death.



Here is the second illuminating example I want to give. Do you remember how at the Last Supper St. John rests on the bosom of Jesus? To rest on the bosom does not mean the person is unaware of events and is asleep. It is a gesture of love and intimacy among friends and loved ones. So resting on the bosom does not mean the person is in a twilight state or dreamy or unaware or sound asleeep or not conversant. It is a loving gesture that was common in those times, especially between teacher and student, dear friends, and loved ones.



In Luke 16 Jesus relates the story of the rich man and Lazarus (not the raising from the dead by Jesus Lazarus but one who is already dead and in heaven). Jesus states "And it came to pass that the poor man died and was borne away by the angels into Abraham's bosom; but the rich man also died and was buried in hell." (St. Luke 16: 22). Does this sound like judgment is defered until the Final Judgment at the End of Days? Jesus goes on to relate how the rich man sees Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham and has conversation with Abraham. The rich man appeals to Abraham to let him warn his brothers of the reality of hell, but Abraham explains that he cannot do that. The rich man has discovered that there is a personal judgment upon death, where angels either take a person to heaven, or the person is sent to hell. PERIOD. Here is the conversation, as Jesus himself relates the very words spoken.



"And he said, 'Then, father, I beseech thee to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they too come into this place of torments.' And Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the Prophets: let them hearken to them.' But he answered, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they willl repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hearken to Moses and the Prophets, they will not believe even if someone rises from the dead.'" (St. Luke 16:27-31).



Jesus repeats this actual and lengthy encounter between Abraham, who is allowing a poor man who died and after much suffering to rest on his bosom, just as later St. John will rest on Jesus while they both live at the Last Supper, so that people will clearly understand that every individual achieves "full" heaven or "full" hell immediately upon death.



So people who imply that there is not an immediate judgment of individuals upon their demise and their disposition to either heaven or hell are ignoring the detailed, explicit words of warning by Jesus himself. Jesus makes very clear in a number of places in the Gospel that there is personal judgment of each and every individual. This is separate from the establishment of the New Kingdom to Come, when all who remain on earth (have not died yet) are judged. Those who God wills to be part of the New Kingdom to Come are then joined together, those already in heaven and those who lived until the Final Judgment and their bodies are resurrected together. Gosh, why is this so hard to understand and why has this weird and strange interpretation become so prevalent outside the Catholic Church? This is why the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (previously known as Confession) is a vital part of the Catholic Church because Catholics heed the warning of Jesus and seek to be as cleansed as possible of sins before having their personal judgment upon their individual deaths.



Jesus also answers a question that has bearing on this discussion:



And on being asked by the Pharisees, "When is the kingdom of God coming?" he answered and said to them, "The kingdom of God comes unawares. Neither will they say, 'Behold, here it is," or 'Behold, there it is.' For behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21).



See, Jesus is making plain that while there will be an End of Times and a Final Judgment, the kingdom of God is already inside each individual person. This is radical thinking for the times when people were constantly waiting for a king or a strong leader to forge with mighty power the "right way." So they constantly expected God to come to earth and "sort things out." This is why people obsessed then about the End of Days because they think that's when God "fixes everything." Jesus patiently preaches about what the End of Times will be like and the Final Judgment, but he continually warns and reminds people that they are going to be personally judged and dispensated one way or the other on their individual deaths. Hence the "kingdom of God is already inside each individual person."