Voice of the Kingfisher speaks out …from a different perspective
by Elinor Montgomery
The Judge
October 15, 2011
The Judge, attired in His judicial robes, entered the courtroom and seated Himself on the throne of justice, where the insignia of the scales of righteousness was imprinted on the wall behind Him. He looked about the courtroom to see a sea of anxious faces, each awaiting their own turn, knowing that the outcome of this trial was as important to them as it was to the accused man.
All had risen from their seats at the appearance of the Judge, and, once seated, He advised the courtroom that everyone could be seated. He raised His gavel and brought it down firmly, announcing that the trial would begin. Not only the accused, but also, everyone in the room had been foolish enough to believe that this day would never come. Somehow, they had actually come to believe there would not be a day of reckoning for the crimes each one knew in his/her heart that he/she was guilty of having committed.
They realized too late that they had trusted in religion and a priesthood, which had been preaching to them for years that God was a good God who would recognize their goodness and their good deeds when it came to the matter of life and death and the after-life. They now knew that the priesthood had failed them by not talking about the death sentence for sin, which rested on the head of each and every man, requiring that his life blood be shed for it.
They had never been told that the Bible offered them an escape route from this death trap through Jesus Christ, yet, they knew about Him, His death and His resurrection. How could so many of the priesthood have reached the point where they ignored the truth and had agreed to take down the cross of their religion in order to unite with other religions? The people in the courtroom were asking why they had allowed themselves to trust in religion instead of the truth of the Bible, which had held the only answers within its pages that could provide life for them.
The Judge called the Advocate for the accused and the accuser to come before Him, so that He could explain the rules of His court one more time, though He knew they both fully understood them. He would allow no insubordination to the Law, nor would He tolerate any lies or deceit on the part of anyone. He would simply rule immediately on the case. The accuser always hated this part of any courtroom trial for he thrived on lies and deceit and used it as his tool, which was at the root of any crime committed.
He knew he was at a disadvantage in this courtroom, with the day of reckoning, now at hand, when the Advocate for the accused would have His say. How the accuser hated confronting Him; he had been so sure of himself when he saw Him hanging on that cross. How could He have had victory at that point when even His own apostles, who had drunk of His cup and eaten His bread, walked away?
The two sat down and the hearing began with the accuser listing the crimes of the accused, for which the accuser provided very solid evidence that the accused had committed them. The accused sat long-faced and woe-be-gone in his chair, knowing very well he was guilty of each and every crime, which had been mentioned by the accuser.
Then the Advocate, who had been listening carefully to the accuser, stood up and looked squarely into the eyes of the Judge before a hushed courtroom and declared that His client had no intention of declaring he was innocent of any of the crimes of which he had been accused. He wished to plead guilty to each and every one of them. The Advocate stated that His case by no means would be based on the good works or goodness of his client’s nature, for the Advocate knew for a fact that there was no one deemed good in this Judge’s courtroom.
The Advocate knew every inch of the Law and, in having kept it Himself, knew He could win the release of his client. His client would be both convicted of the crime and yet, at the same time, be set free from having to face the penalty of death. It was the situation for all His clients who were seated among those convicted in the courtroom, awaiting their own trials. He had the one solution available, a case, which He alone could plead, and one, which this merciful Judge had written into every word of His guidebook to life in a world under conviction. Here, before the Judge, sat a young man who was definitely guilty, but had read the Book and because of this had been able to find the Advocate, the only One who could gain his freedom and give his life back to him.
You see, the Advocate’s name is Jesus, Son of the Judge, who kept every bit of the Law and had served by doing the will of the Father, while sharing in the weakness of man’s flesh. How else could He ever pay the price for His client and save his life? He loved His brother, just like the Father who had created him in the flesh and originally in the same Spirit of life as His begotten Son, but through sin, had lost the Spirit of life and taken on the spirit of death.
Now, the Advocate told the Judge that the young man had accepted Him and His act of salvation when He took the man’s place on the cross. The young man knew that Jesus had shed His righteous blood in place of the man’s own contaminated blood and, in so doing, had paid the required blood price for sin, which his fleshly father, Adam, never could pay in his contaminated state.
The Judge smiled at His beloved Son and lovingly looked upon Him and His client, knowing that another one of His precious souls had been saved from the death sentence from which there was no escape. He raised the gavel and brought it down very firmly and decisively as He pronounced the words, “Not guilty!” All of heaven could be heard in a resounding chorus of exaltation and joy for the release of yet another lost soul who had just escaped from the fire of judgment.
Back in the courtroom it was an entirely different matter, as some burst into tears of pain when they thought about the choices they had made in their lives, which led to them sitting here awaiting their own trial before the Judge. Why had they trusted in the secular man’s opinions and their own good works when they could have read the Book? They had known at one time about its importance, but had ignored this fact, as they went about life seeking all the pleasures they could find, instead of seeking the treasures of the next life. They had purposely ignored this Man called Jesus, and had even disliked the mention of His name, but now they were beginning to understand what was meant when the Book stated that, one day, all knees would bow before Him.
Why had they not listened and why had they not chosen Him as their Advocate instead of listening to the voice of the accuser and his lies? They had been told the crazy message that there was no devil working in their lives. They had been deceived for he had been speaking into their lives all the time trying to lead them away from the Book and the good Advocate.
This was the bleakest moment of their existence, for now they knew the Book was true and the Judge, although He is loving, is also holy and could not, and would not, co-exist with sin. Yes, all men were sinful but the Judge had provided the one loop-hole in the Covenant through His Son, Jesus Christ, who was the escape route from death. It was, and always had been, called the Way and He never deceived His church by telling them they were to be called by the name of Christian or by the name of any other system of religion. They were to be a voice for the truth of the gospels and not for religion.
God truly had given His Son for the safety of all people, but the sadness was that this was a courtroom of people, as surely doomed as were those on the Titanic. They had come to the sudden realization that, without the Advocate, there was no other lifeboat for them. They were going to the bottom of the sea, riding the accuser all the way as he clasped his hands in glee at the death of yet another whom he had captured and enslaved with his secular lies.
They had seen it all before in the failure of their governments and of the two nations under God; shouldn’t they have seen how God rejected even His own people for their sins? They should have known better, knowing that His Word was true and that He really meant what He said.
The horror of it all was just beginning to sink into their psyches. They were not going to be able to escape the judgment and, from that day forward, would look with envy upon those who had escaped – those, whom they had held in derision over the years for their faith.