'The Trial'

After living a "decent" life my time on earth
 came to an end. The first
  thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the
 waiting room of what I
 thought
  to be a court house.  The doors opened and I was
 instructed to come in
  and have a seat by the defense table.

  As I looked around I saw the "prosecutor," he was
 a villainous
  looking gent who snarled as he stared at me, he
 definitely was the most
 evil
  person I have ever seen.
  I sat down and looked to my left and there sat my
 lawyer, a kind
  and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed
 very familiar to me.

  The corner door flew open and there appeared the
 judge in full
  flowing robes.  He commanded an awesome presence
 as he moved across the
 room
 and
  I couldn't take my eyes off of him.  As he took
 his seat behind the bench
 he
  said "Let us begin."

 The prosecutor rose and said "My name is Satan
 and I am here to
  show you why this man belongs in hell."  He
 proceeded to tell of lies
 that I
  told, things that I stole and in the past when I
 cheated others.  Satan
 told of
  other terrible perversions that were once in my
 life and the more he
 spoke the
  further down in my seat I sank. I was so
 embarrassed that I couldn't look
 at
  anyone, even my own lawyer, as the Devil told of
 sins that even I had
 completely
> > >  forgotten about.

  As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these
 things about me, I was
 equally
  upset at my representative who sat there silently
 not offering any
  form of defense at all.  I know I had been guilty
 of those things, but I
 had
 done some good in my life - couldn't that at
 least equal out part of the
 harm
  I've done?

  Satan finished with a fury and said "This man
 belongs in hell, he is
 guilty of
 all
  that I have charged and there is not a person who
 can prove otherwise.

  When it was his turn, my lawyer first asked if he
 might approach the
 bench.

  The judge allowed this over the strong objection
 of Satan, and beckoned
 him
  to come forward.  As he got up and started
 walking I was able to see him
 now
  in his full splendor and majesty.  Now I realized
 why he seemed so
 familiar,
 this was Jesus representing me, my Lord and my
 Savior.

 He stopped at the bench and softly said to the
 judge "Hi Dad" and then he
  turned to address the court.  "Satan was correct
 in saying that this man
 had
  sinned, I won't deny any of these allegations.
 And yes the wages of sin
 is
  death and this man deserves to be punished".

  Jesus took a deep breath and turned to his Father
 with outstretched arms
 and
  proclaimed "However, I died on the cross so that
 this person might have
  eternal life and he has accepted me as his
 Savior, so he is mine."

 My Lord continued with "His name is written in
 the book of life and no
 one
  can snatch him from me.  Satan still does not
 understand yet, this man is
 not
  to be given justice but rather mercy."

  As Jesus sat down, he quietly paused, looked at
 his Father and  replied,
  "There is nothing else that needs to be done,
 I've done it all."

  The Judge lifted his mighty hand and slammed the
 gavel down and the
 following
  words bellowed from his lips- "This man is free -
 the penalty for him has
  already been paid in full, case dismissed."

  As my Lord led me away I could hear Satan ranting
 and raving "I won't
 give
  up, I'll win the next one."

  I asked Jesus as he gave me my instructions where
 to go next, "Have you
 ever
  lost a case?" Christ lovingly smiled and said,
 "Everyone that has come to
 me
 and asked me to represent them has received the
 same verdict as
 you...Paid in
  Full."

      

Ahead to 'The Traffic Ticket'   here

back to 'The 26 Guards'   here
back to tributes menu  here
 

HOME