The Prosecution Against Truth ...

In the work of condemnation, there is always certainty.  Isn’t it amazing how those two things always seem to go together, bound by the human glue of pride.  In our legal system, a jury is asked whether they believe the defendant is guilty beyond a “reasonable” doubt.  This means we look for convictions despite those nagging doubts that may linger, despite a casual doubt a jurist may have in the back of his mind.  The term “reasonable” must be interjected in our jury instructions, or nearly every defendant would be set free.  But the prosecution reflects NO doubts in the case they present.  The prosecution lays out a set of facts and puts together a narrative of what happened, who did it, and why they would do it.  If the only entirety of listening to the case was that of the prosecution, you would have no choice but to convict every time.  Because the prosecution does not present a case with any doubt in it.  They reflect only certainty, no matter what all the facts might reveal.  It is their job to convict no matter what, no matter what truth is.

When was the last time you heard a prosecutor (especially in a high profile case where America was watching), stop the trial and say … you know what, we got it wrong, this defendant is innocent and this case needs to be closed, we are dropping all charges.  Nearly never.  What happens instead is that trials continue despite truth, and the prosecution relies upon the defense to overwhelm them with truth, such that a jury must undo unjust prosecutions.  But then, this places the defense team in the position of striving for acquittal despite the truth as well.  Indeed, defense lawyers are not allowed to state that their clients are guilty and should be punished.  They must fight the prosecution every inch of the way, looking to let go murders, rapists, drug traffickers, simply because our prosecution must ignore truth and reflect certainty once a trial begins.  Our defense must then meet the prosecution’s certainty with certainty of its own.  Legal trickery then becomes the standard for talent once the fray begins.

And lost in our legal system becomes truth.  But it is worse, in the judicial proceedings of our religious bodies, of our churches.  Once a group of our religious leaders reaches unity in the ideas of casting someone out for their sins (perhaps now public), they are rarely if ever deterred.  And it may never get as far as a public ex-communication, it need only get as far as gossip in the mind of the religious leader.  The defendant in these cases can be subtly restricted from roles of leadership & service in the church, because the existing leadership simply thinks that they are “not right for that role”.  The existing leaders of the faith do not want upstarts, free thinkers, or revolutionary’s admitted into leadership roles alongside themselves.  People like “that” must be kept “in their place”.  In our modern age church leadership is not allowed to kill them for heresy (a procedure often used in our past for just such problems), instead we destroy reputations, and restrict service, until they “get the hint”, or have no choice but to move on.

But what happens when the prosecution is dead wrong?  What happens when the facts are contrived to look a certain way, because of the heart of the prosecutor?  What happens when those you personally state are condemned to the fires of hell for their grievous sins, are NOT actually so condemned?  What happens when your certainty is the problem all along?  Religious condemnation never occurs without certainty.  And in a belief system where God alone judges, and He judges based on the heart, and looks to redeem every soul no matter how “evil” they appear … how could any condemnation be so certain?  When mankind attempts to take the role of judge upon himself, when he attempts to dictate the religious standing of another human being, he looks to make himself equal to God.  This is what Satan did before us, and encourages us to do to this day.  It is what Satan inspired a former religious leadership to do.  After all, this Messiah named Jesus, did not conform.  He was not doing what scripture said He should do, according to the church.  He had to be stopped.  And since only death would stop him …

Peter recounts the prosecution of Truth, that is The Truth, from the first point of view that matters – from the religious leadership of the church, the true church.  Keep in mind, the right scriptures, that is the bible will be used in this prosecution.  This is not based on the Quran, or some ancient Hindu book of wisdom, it is based on the Biblical scriptures available in that day, held in Jerusalem where nearly all books would be present.  The prosecutors are not just lay people run amuck.  This is not some out-of-control deacon who thinks he knows best.  This is the pope.  This is the general conference leader.  These men are the esteemed leadership of the day, and they are united, acting in concert for the very first time, over one singular issue … to destroy this upstart Messiah wannabe named Jesus Christ.  A stark mantra emerges in the halls of the Pharisees … The Truth be damned; this prosecution must succeed.  That stark mantra echoes in the hearts of those who call themselves by His name today … The Truth be damned; we must condemn those still steeped in sin, instead of work for their redemption.

Peter begins his recollection to John Mark in his gospel in chapter fourteen picking up in verse 53 saying … “And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. [verse 54] And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.”  This was a momentous trial.  This was not a matter that only 2 or 3 priests need deal with, everyone in power is here.  Chief Priests, Elders, Scribes, from every part of church leadership, all in power were there.  Peter too, has regained his courage enough to follow at a distance.  He has gone undercover, and now hangs out with the servants, warming themselves by the fire.

John Mark continues in verse 55 saying … “And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none. [verse 56] For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.”  In Jewish law, there must be at least two witnesses whose testimony agrees before a man can be put to death.  So the hunt for such men begins, but with no luck.  It is very hard to coordinate lies when the witnesses are kept separate.  Guessing at what the other guy said, becomes very difficult, and everybody that night was getting it wrong.  The Truth was hard to testify against.  What could be said against it but lies.  Certainty does not equal correctness.  One can be extremely certain, and extremely wrong.

Mark continues in verse 57 saying … “And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, [verse 58] We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. [verse 59] But neither so did their witness agree together.”  The subject of the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem came up.  But the liars could not get that story right either.  They had the jest of it, but again their testimonies stepped upon each other so badly, that facts were getting destroyed.  The prosecution was getting stumped, and this could not happen.  This Man must be found guilty no matter what, no matter how.  Finally, the high priest himself was getting angry.

Mark continues in verse 60 saying … “And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? [verse 61] But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”  The prosecution had counted on something they were not getting.  They expected for Jesus to argue with each false witness that came up.  They expected to get Jesus tripped up in His own words, and somehow break His own defense through argument and exaggeration.  But the strangest of all things was happening, Jesus the Lamb of God was remaining perfectly silent.  What should have enraged each of us if we were an innocent party, did nothing to get Jesus talking.  He just sat there and took it all in silence.

Here is the first distinction between The Truth, and those of us who claim truth is on our side.  The need to defend it.  The Truth will stand against all the lies of the evil one.  The Truth needs no defense, for it is The Truth.  We who claim the truth is with us, and bolster our claims in certainty, are rigorous to defend our positions.  We are happy to argue how we are right, and all others are wrong.  We are happy to prove it based in the interpretations of the scriptures we are certain are correct.  Just as these prosecutors of old.  We will fight for our truth to the point of death.  Not our own deaths mind you, but those who claim we are wrong, we are happy to fight with, all the way to the point of killing them to insure our truth lives on.  But this is not needed.  The Truth will live on no matter what the opposing argument comes up with.  It needs no help or defense or violence from us.  Rather it needs our testimony in how we live The Truth in silence, not how we speak about it.

Finally though, the high priest challenges the Superhuman to identify itself.  Strangely this same challenge works on angels of light, and angels of darkness.  It is as if God has setup a rule which cannot be broken.  If asked who they are, a superhuman being must answer in truth, to the human who asks it, whether it is demon, or it is God.  This challenge is meant to protect us.  If or when we encounter the superhuman, the entity that exists beyond our realm, we need only ask it … in the name of Jesus Christ, who are you?  And it will be compelled to answer.  Most of those who encounter the supernatural are not inclined to use this challenge.  They are told by the entity that it would represent a lack of faith.  They are told the encounters between them might stop after that.  They are lied to, and eagerly accept the lie, because most demons tell us what we want to hear, not what we need to hear.  But God has no fear of this challenge.

Jesus answers in verse 62 saying … “And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”  Here is where OUR human nature takes over.  We read this text as a threat, as a condemnation to those conducting this trial.  We are absolutely certain of it.  But there is more to it than may first meet the eye.  The prophecy of Christ not long ago, predicted the denial of Peter of even knowing Jesus before the rooster crowed.  Yet that prophecy was not to condemn Peter forever for his sins.  The prophecy here lays out a coming of Christ to this world.  It could be His second coming to gather His redeemed, those who have repented of deeds even as terrible as the prosecution of The Truth unto death.  It could also represent His third coming when the Holy City descends to our earth and the wicked are raised for a final judgment one last time.  The words of Christ are true either way.  But which version of His return these men see, will be a function of their repentance, and acceptance of Jesus Christ as our only Messiah.  This was also true for Peter.  The sins were committed.  The question is only whether a repentance was sought.

The high priest was anxious to get this trial done with.  The story continues in verse 63 saying … “Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? [verse 64] Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.”  The religious leadership of the church prosecuted The Truth, and pronounced Him guilty because He spoke the Truth.  The mob joined in.  There was not one free thinker in that jury box, not one sympathetic ear who might have voiced an opposition to this farce of a trial.  Certainty overwhelmed the mob in that hall.  Certainty backed by Satan himself, that death was needed, blood was needed, an example must be made to keep the faith pure.  So Satan does with us nearly 2000 years later.  He tells us to expel those caught in sin in order to keep the faith pure, keep the leadership pure.  There is no forgiveness in the mind or heart of Satan, but there is overwhelming certainty, certainty steeped in pride.

Whose follower are we truly?  Then begins to happen what happens when Truth has been devalued and discarded; it is hated.  John Mark concludes this section in verse 65 saying … “And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.”  How we spit on The Truth.  When once we embark on the path of certainty, and when we add our voices to those of condemnation, we spit right on the face of Truth.  We ignore how often our own sins must have been cleansed by the sacrifice of Christ.  We ignore how much we too have earned the sentence of condemnation, and that but for the love and grace of Christ, we too were bound for the hell of separation from God.  So we spit in the face of God, in the face of Truth, with our hypocrisy, and our prosecution of others still steeped in sins (we too so often commit).

Then we torture Truth.  We contrive scriptures and interpretations to support our condemnations of others.  We mangle the Bible, and turn the image of God from one of Love to one of vengeance.  We put a bag over the head of Christ so that He can no longer see.  Then we bang upon His precious face, hitting Him with our palms, and our pretenses.  We take pride in our differences.  We consider only ourselves as right and all other Christian faiths as wrong.  We are absolutely certain of it.  And in our certainty we slap the face of Christ, telling Him He is unable to lead any other faith but ours to Truth, and to the Kingdom of God.  It is not those men, and those hands who remain stained, it is our own.  And still we continue, absolutely certain of our cause, certain of our faith, certain of our interpretation, certainty steeped in a pride of our forefathers and our faith.  We believe we must lead the fight against sin, certain this is our calling, ignoring the calls of Jesus to Love, instead leading a war against evil with the voice of our condemnation. 

This is not the trial against The Truth that happened in the days of Christ, it is the prosecution against The Truth that happens in the hearts of his modern day followers from every denomination.  But like the priests of old, there is still hope held out to us.  Hope that begins in repentance of our certainty.  Hope that grows in the transformation of our hearts by the power of Jesus alone, that leaves our hearts unable to condemn, but infinitely interested in redemption.  When love is our only motivation, we see our hearts brought into alignment with the God of Love, and vengeance has no part in it any longer.

 

Justice ...

The devil demands justice, the righteous just beg for mercy that they know they do not deserve.  It is a strange part of the character of God that allows mercy to be greater than justice.  The standards for justice are outlined in the Old Testament of the Bible as … “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life.”  These 3 examples are meant to show the requirements of justice on those who inflict damage.  This is a rudimentary definition of fairness, equality, and justice.  The simple premise is that which you harm in the process of doing evil should carry a punitive consequence equaling that of the crime.  Most of our current legal system attempts to emulate this philosophy.

So where does mercy enter in?  In terms of crime and the results of crime (i.e. prosecution) it doesn’t.  There is absolutely no question as to our collective or individual guilt in committing offenses against ourselves, our neighbors, our loved ones, and yes even our God.  We all stand accused.  And what is more, we all stand guilty.  To determine the punishment we deserve we need only look at the standard of justice outlined in the Bible.  Note, this is the sentence for our crimes, which we deserve, not necessarily that which we receive.

But God does not change over time.  He was no less concerned about mercy in the days of the Israelite than He is in today’s age.  Even back then, at the same time, these other statements outlining justice were written into law, was a system of mercy written into the law as well.  If you had a fight with a neighbor and let’s say you did damage to his eye, justice would require your own eye be damaged as well.  Your neighbor had the right to bring you before a local judge, plead his case, you could plead yours, and then sentence was passed.  However, there was also a loophole provided.  If you fled to a predefined “sanctuary” city, your punishment could NOT be imposed.  You were granted mercy for your crimes, though you must remain in the city for the rest of your life.  In cases of accidental homicide, I’m sure this system was employed regularly.

But the point is not that you were somehow found not-guilty.  It took the eye-witness testimony of at least 2 people to convict you in the first place.  Taking advantage of “sanctuary” did not absolve you of your crimes, it only prevented the punishment.  But why give killers a way out in the first place.  People who believe God is obsessed with revenge do not know how to reconcile a complete system of “sanctuary” He created in His laws for us.  Those who believe strongly in the death penalty often quote the scripture segment “a life for a life” but do not ever mention “sanctuary”.  Those who demand justice, are those who believe they have been wronged.  They wish to punish others for the misdeeds committed against them.  But are they willing to accept their own punishments?

“How you judge others is how you will be judged.”  This scriptural fragment was used by Christ to remind people of their own role in the justice system.  So often, “the wronged”, forget their own guilt and other crimes.  The statement of Christ to “first remove the log that is within your own eye, before trying to take the splinter out of your neighbor’s eye”, was intended again as a reminder to us all, for we are all, both the victims and the perpetrator.  We are all the accuser and the accused.  Finally Christ told a story about a man who was forgiven much, but then unmerciful to those who owed him much smaller debts.  Again yet another reminder of what role we play in the justice system.  We are not supposed to be the prosecutors.

We are not supposed to try to inflict justice or even fairness on those who do us harm.  Instead we are supposed to show love to them.  Christ said to give the thief who steals your coat, your shirt as well.  There is no justice in that scenario, only love, only mercy.  There is no fairness.  There is no coat for a coat.  So who will demand justice for this thief’s misdeeds – the only being who really ever demands justice – Satan.  Satan is the one who wants to see us punished for what we do.  He instigates some of it, influences some of it, and just sits back and watches some of it; but he is relentless in wanting us all punished for it.  He calls on God’s sense of justice and demands fair play, fair action.  He speaks very often through the mouths of those who accuse.  He demands.  The righteous know better, they beg for mercy.

For we are not righteous because we do good deeds.  We do not suffer our deserved punishments because we have earned some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card from God.  We do not suffer what we deserve because we are not guilty, for we are ALL surely guilty.  First degree, premeditated sin.  But as we humble ourselves, see our guilt, and beg for mercy from a just God, we are granted it.  Our sentence is pronounced guilty as the law requires, but our punishment is put on the shoulders of the innocent Christ.  And He willingly takes on our burden of guilt and shame.  He carries our burdens through torture and ultimately to the cross to pay our debt of death.  And through His perfect sacrifice our punishment is marked as paid.  We are forgiven through this and made righteous not because we are inherently righteous, we are made this way and given this term, by He who gave up His life to make us so.

Justice demands our extinction.  Even what we do to our planet would someday bring this result were it not for the interference of a loving God.  Escaping a well deserved fate can ONLY happen because our God loved us that much.  This is why we are told not to seek equality in the justice systems on earth.  This is why we offer the thief more than he takes on his own.  This is why we forgive others as we wish to be forgiven.   This is why “sanctuary” cities were created even in the Old Testament times.  This is why Christ told the stories and parables He did.  Our goals are not justice but love.  We are not to seek fairness, but much more than what is fair, that is love.  Love is our ambition, love is our goal, love is greater than justice.

When it gets hard to love, when the wrongs done to you seem to cry out for justice, when you are hurt, in pain, every natural inclination is to get even – at these times more than any other – expel the thoughts of punishing the guilty, and fill your mind with the love that forgave you, and allows you to forgive those who have wronged you.  Nothing that is taken from you, or damaged, or even killed, can be kept from you forever.  For this life is not the last one those who have been saved by Grace will ever see.  The things you lose here are meaningless anyway, and the people you lose will one day be returned in perfect health, in perfection, for all eternity.  What is lost is but for a short time.  But Love, love is forever.

Who knows maybe the person you wind up forgiving, the person you wind up loving, might even one day be you …

Robes of Failure ...

Scripture asks us to put on “the whole armor of God” but I do not believe it is our job to war with the world, with each other, or with evil.  I believe our enemy stares us in the face when looking in the mirror.  To fight the good fight of faith is to learn to yield, learn to submit our will to the greater will of our loving Father, Savior, and Lord.  But defeating me takes more than I thought it might.  Turns out, I am fairly crafty, fairly stubborn, and fairly deceitful.  Too often, when faced with a choice to put on my armor and submit, I look away and choose to wear the old familiar robes of failure.

Early indications, in the war with evil, are absolute predictors of outcome, unless divine intervention saves the day.  Long before the act of evil is committed - are the thoughts, motives, and selfish interest that spark, take hold, and begin their practice of building the chains that hold us in bondage.  We craft each link one after the other, stepping deeper into darkness, and farther away from light; going just a step or two further than the last time down this road, just to see what it looks like.  And soon, we are so far down the darkened highway, we have no idea where we are, how we got here, and are hopeless to find our way back home.  But it all starts with the little things.  It begins with decisions and choices so small they seem meaningless, but are in fact significant.  It does not look like much of a chain of bondage when only seeing the first few links.

You may ask, “what does it matter what I wear?”  On the surface, it doesn’t.  But underneath what we wear is an indicator of how we feel, and more to the point, an indicator of what we are planning to do.  You don’t go in a bikini to church (usually J), and you don’t wear a tuxedo when working on your car for example.  We send ourselves clues and reinforce our own plans and perceptions by the things we wear.  Our Maker knew this, He knew that with the entrance of evil into our world would come the perversions that darken our natures.  No longer could we be both naked and innocent, so covering ourselves became required.  How we cover ourselves these days with as many choices. fabrics, styles, and societal norms speaks more about us and our choices than ever before.

The term “dress for success” is often used to help motivate people to wear the clothing of those they aspire to become.  It is designed to give us a mental cue that we look the part, now we need to become the part.  But the converse of this is also true.  We “dress” for infidelity both to our spouse and to our God.  We leave off looking for God’s armor and instead cling to robes that we are too comfortable in.  Robes of convenience and easy access.  Robes of familiarity.  And ultimately, robes of failure, that are sure to deliver us to the evil we plan to commit.

Submitting is just not so easy a task.  It seems easy enough.  It sounds easy enough.  I mean how hard is it to simply “give in”?  The hard part comes with the realization that giving in to God will mean a change in our behavior.  There is not a question of “IF” God is going to change us.  He does.  Every time, without fail.  That surety however sparks a different thought process in the tempting cycle – do we really want a change today?  This is the question the evil one designs to get us to begin reassembling the chains of bondage he wishes us to wear.  Just ignore the victories that God has brought, and take “a day off”.  Its no big deal right?  Just one day off?  You can go back to being a prude tomorrow if it means that much to you.

But one day off, is not at all what evil intends.  Once the initial barrier has been broken down, a second day is at least half has hard to accept.  Day three requires only a passing thought and by day four the habit is back on track.  Relapse as a part of the addiction cycle is an unfortunate reality in our world.  Both in chemical addiction, and in the war to restrain self will.  But the response to relapse must be the same in both to keep the damage to a minimum.  One day off the wagon is one day too many.  Get right back on that mythical wagon, or in spiritual terms, get right back on your knees and turn it over to God immediately.  We already know God does the work.  He has proven that over and over.  There is no question about whether God will give us a victory, only if we will accept it.

Self deception can be a monster.  After enough days of sobriety, an addict can begin to think they are “past it”.  In spiritual terms, we can begin to believe that God has changed the desires of our hearts away from evil things since we have not committed them for some long length of time.  The problem with this thinking, is that it leads us away from the idea of daily dependence and submission.  The minute you think you do not have a problem, you come to believe you do not need any help with it.  Can’t fix what is not broken right?  This thinking leaves you all alone to face the evil one again.  And here we go again with the old – take a day off of your sobriety wagon and have some fun argument.  Before you know it, you have proof that you are indeed NOT “past it”.  Alcoholics must identify themselves this way as long as they live.  It is a recognition of their condition.  Sinners are NO different.

And speaking of self deception; the alcoholics are the lucky ones.  The lady who refers to herself as a crack whore is far better off than the Christian who does not see his own deficiencies.  The chemically addicted can get help.  For HELP is what they need.  They cannot fix it themselves, but help can get them fixed.  Christians are no different.  Except the ones in denial.  Christians who do not accept that the sin in their lives is every bit as strong as any chemical addiction are fooling themselves big time.  And by denying their condition, they avoid treating it, they avoid changing it, and they wallow in the pain they cause themselves.  This is the kind of self deception that can lead a Christian to a terminal condition – not wanting change, forgiveness, or a better life.

If you look at your character and see all the ugly, count yourself blessed.  Not blessed because you ARE ugly in your soul, but because you CAN see it.  The truth is we are ALL ugly in our souls.  We hide it, cover it up from each other, pretend it does not exist.  But it does.  It is rampant and out of control in most folks.  The difference between the average “man on the street” and “Saddam Hussein” is opportunity.  Most people have not ever experienced control without consequences so they do not know how they would react in that situation.  But take a closer look at all the little things they have experienced, and you can extrapolate how bad they would be with unbridled power and control.  Those seemingly innocent acts that enrich you at the expense of another, are the basis of character that align you with every despot in history.

Ugly is not cool, not hip, and not to be desired – ugly is ugly – that is all.  God can fix the ugly.  He can surgically remove it.  He can get it out of us and recreate beauty in its place.  But only God can do it.  And only once we admit we need Him to do it.  People only consult a surgeon when they believe they have a problem.  When you think your faults are just eccentricities, or that your malevolent nature is “not that bad”, or you simply think of yourself as “a good person” – you have no need of a Savior.  No need leads you into darkness, as sure as those who are in darkness focus on the light to get away from it.  There is no middle ground.  There is no self destiny.  There is only submission – either voluntary to God, or forced by the evil one.

I believe our decision process starts earlier than we are aware of: in the things that send us mental cues; in the environment we find ourselves subjected to.  There are a variety of influences all working in concert to keep us distracted and too busy to go to God and submit our wills to Him.  Once this has been done each day, the tempter must find other prey.  For God answers our prayers and controls our will as we let Him.  And in this work, He changes us at our very core.  The evil one knows this, and it is why he works so hard to keep us from achieving it.  Including trying to win us back on the heels of a relapse, but we must not allow him to win our attention.  We must continue to give up to God, and allow him to win the fight we need won.