John 12:48

There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses the crowd in Jerusalem during the final week, immediately after declaring (v. 47) that he came to save, not to judge. He is drawing a line between those who receive his words and those who set them aside.

The words — ἀθετῶν (athetōn) means "rejecting, nullifying" — not merely disagreeing but declaring something without authority or validity. It is the word used for canceling a document or decree.

The thread — Luke 10:16 makes rejection of the messenger rejection of the Sender; Romans 2:16 identifies the day God will judge men's secrets through Christ Jesus. The words spoken here are the same words that become the standard on that day.

Why it lands — The verse removes the option of treating the words as content to be weighed and discarded. To hear and not receive is not neutrality; it is a verdict already in motion.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Luke 10:16 Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
Hebrews 9:27 Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Romans 2:16 on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
2 Thessalonians 1:8 in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
John 11:24 Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Hebrews 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?
Hebrews 10:29 How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.