The day had come when all the nations were to be
judged. One by one, God heard the
testimony of all those on the earth, the living and the dead, and one by one He began to separate them onto
His right and onto His left. At the
sight of this many who had suffered much began to take exception to the fact
that anyone could judge them having not experienced the same hardships from
which they were cast. They shouted out
to each other “How can a God who lives outside the presence of sin even begin
to judge we who are encircled by evildoers day and night?” and “Living in such
a place of privilege without pain and without tears, how can He presume to sit
as a magistrate condemning those with circumstances He cannot even pretend to
understand?” Having sufficiently rallied
themselves against God, they requested that the act of separation cease and
that the Almighty lend them an ear to make their case against Him. Gracefully and without fear of any judgment,
our Father granted His accusers a moment to let themselves be heard. One by one they came from the ends of the
earth accusing the Lord and saying, “How do you know that You would not have
acted in the same way as we have if faced with the same intolerance and
injustices, and how do You know that we SHOULD be without sin when you are not
weak like we are?”
An African American man, having
been buried since the 1960’s came before Him with rope marks still imprinted on
his neck saying, “I was killed for no other reason than that I was hated due to
ignorance. I did nothing wrong and yet I
was convicted in front of a prejudiced jury who wanted nothing more than the
blood of someone who made them uncomfortable and they did not understand. How then can You judge me since You know
nothing of such things?”
A victim of the Nazi holocaust next
approached the throne with the tattooed reminders of her previous life. She looked towards God’s patient eyes and
said, “Look at these scars. Have I not
already been judged? My suffering and
death were given to me solely because a country and its leaders were afraid of my
beliefs. How then can You judge me since
You know nothing of this kind of persecution?”
Each person approaching the throne
had a new accusation for the Lord. Each
doubted God’s ability to understand since He had never had to endure suffering,
pain, persecution or sorrow while sitting upon His throne enjoying the praises
of the angels. God waited compassionately
for each person and each charge to be completely exhausted. Upon there completion God asked the nations,
“What then would be your judgment upon Me?”
The many nations and each of the nation’s many accusers deliberated for
some time so that they could return an answer to the Lord that would relegate
Him to tears and humble Him to the point that He might have no grounds for
unjustly passing judgment on the children of the earth who had already been
through so much. Finally, they had
reached a conclusion and were ready to bring their judgment against the
Almighty. As a delegation they decided
that He should be made to endure all that they had endured so that He would
understand. They decided He should be
made a man like them and placed on the earth to suffer that He might be
qualified before being permitted to indict anyone of any charges. Each accuser would be given the opportunity
to place their own sorrows upon Him to make sure that he would have the
opportunity to understand their point of view.
The hanged African American man
said, “Let Him be convicted before a prejudiced jury who wants nothing more
than the blood of a man who makes them uncomfortable and let Him be killed for
no other reason than that he was hated due to the ignorance of others.”
The holocaust victim said, “Let Him
show the scars of this judgment as permanent as tattoos and let Him be
persecuted by a country who was afraid of what He believes.”
A man in a business suit said, “Let
Him feel the pressures of having so many mouths to feed and yet have such limited
resources. He will surely not have time
for His family or time for spiritual things when faced with such a challenge. Only then let Him judge me.”
An Ethiopian woman said, “Let Him
suffer hunger so that you can count His bones and let his thirst be so great that
his tongue sticks to His jaw.”
Next, a man in prison clothes said,
“Because I was executed of a crime I did not commit, let the iniquities of
another be placed upon His head and let Him pay the price for their sins even
though He has done no wrong.”
A pregnant teenager said, “Let Him
know what it feels like to be pierced by the hypocritical glances of many
accusers who judge Him to be a sinner but don’t understand the whole story.”
A leprous man came giving judgment
saying, “Let Him suffer the rejection of men, being despised as one from whom
men hide their faces.”
A woman who had long suffered from
depression said, “Let Him know what it feels like to be all alone with no one
left to show you compassion.”
His next litigant was a frail
creature suffering from anorexia and bulimia.
She said to the jury, “Let Him know what it is like to have no desirable
form or beauty.”
Then a figure in funeral clothes
approached the throne saying, “Because I have been widowed, let Him know what
it feels like to be abandoned by His bride and left to suffer the biggest
challenge of His life with no one to support Him.”
His next tear-filled challenger was
a young man with fresh wounds who came saying, “Let Him know what it feels like
to be betrayed by the closest of His friends.”
A long-suffering mother came and
said, “Let Him be filled with tears over the insubordination and defiance of
the children whom He loves so much He would be willing to die for. Let Him see their wayward direction, plead
with them to listen to wisdom, and then stand by watching them continue in
their hard-heartedness.”
Approaching next was a fatherless
child who said, “Let Him suffer with the absence of the support of His father.”
A heartbroken lover said in His
presence, “Let Him feel the devastation of love lost so great that His heart is
like wax melted within His chest.”
An overworked mother said, “Let Him
feel the stress of everyone wanting something from you all the time and never
bothering to ask ‘How are you doing?’”
A homeless man came forward and
hurled out, “Let Him know what it is like to spend the night in the freezing
cold because you have no place else to lay your head.”
On and on the prosecution littered
a barrage of indictments against Him; each rendering their own form of justice
making sure that every possible form of suffering would be dished out so that
He might more clearly understand what it is we suffer in the deficiency of this
cruel kingdom. Surely He would not even
be able to stand against the measure of His own judgment, and in so realizing this
He might then render a favorable judgment on them due to the extenuating
circumstances that led them to never be able to surrender to Him. When the judgment of the nations had been
completed, the Lord then opened His mouth to answer the accusers:
To African American man He replied,
“Was I not convicted before a prejudiced jury and killed for no other reason
than that I was hated?”
To victim of the holocaust He said,
“And do I not also have the permanent scars of the judgment of my countymen?”
Answering each in turn, He said to
the businessman: “Did I not feed thousands with a few loaves,
and find time for prayer despite being pressed on all sides?”
To the Ethiopian, “Did I not suffer
on the cross such that one could even count my bones? Did I not also thirst but then was only given
sour wine?”
To the prisoner, “Was I not also a
prisoner executed of a crime I did not commit?
Were not the iniquities of the entire world placed upon Me even though I
did no wrong?”
To the pregnant teen, “Have I not
also been pierced and have I not also been counted among sinners being made to
endure unspoken judgments?”
To the leper, “Was I not the
rejected cornerstone?”
To the depressed, “Was I not alone
when my sheep were scattered?”
To the anorexic bulimic, “Was I not
voluntarily made common and without majesty?”
To the widow, “Have I not been abandoned
continuously and unceremoniously by the bride I came to serve?”
To the betrayed, “Do you not
believe I understand what it is like to have a close friend do the unthinkable
against me?”
To the long-suffering, “Have I not also spoken ‘O Jerusalem… how
often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood
under her wings, and you were not willing?’”
To the fatherless, “I too cried out
to My Father, ’why have You forsaken Me?’”
To the heartbroken, “Do I not also
know the pain of a broken heart? While
yours suffers and will be healed, Mine has even exploded inside my chest.”
To the overworked, “I have only
known service and when have others ever asked Me how I am doing?”
To the homeless, “Do you not
remember that ‘the Son of Man has no place to lay His head?’”
To each He answered in like manner,
giving a sympathetic but challenging response for every accusation. Finally, with one fell swoop He stated to all,
“You have accused Me of these things because you have not known My Son who is
in Me and I in Him. If you would have
known Him, you would have known that I have suffered not only these things but
so much more. You would understand that
though I would have been justified to judge you without doing so, I also suffered
so that I would be blameless before any accusation. It is because you have chosen to be blinded
by your own sufferings instead of acknowledging the saving power of the death,
burial, and resurrection of my Son, Jesus Christ, that you have now been
condemned. For had you been able to see
past yourselves you would have found sanctuary in knowing there is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Go now and find your home in the outer
darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Putting their heads down they knew
that He was right. They had heard the
stories and were now reminded of the messages they had rejected from their
parents, friends, pastors, and co-workers. He had endured these things and He
had in fact endured even greater. Laying
down their scepters at the feet of the Savior, they exchanged them for shackles
and began to march. As they walked in
file away from the Light, they realized how they had used their circumstances
to try to justify their lives. They
remembered how they felt somehow prepared with the armory of these accusations
if in fact there was a God that they would have to stand before. How silly those arguments now seemed in
response to an Almighty, All-knowing, Star-breathing Creator whose judgment
comes out of the heavens, not from the perspective of the throne but from the
cross.
