Articles
Thoughts from the Courthouse
Last Monday I was selected as a juror in a criminal case. I sat through two days of testimony, but before deliberations began I was dismissed as an alternate juror by a random draw. Here are some perspectives on that experience:
1) The real courtroom is nothing like TV dramas. In fact, the prosecutor emphasized this more than once. He noted that rarely does a case hinge on fingerprints, DNA evidence or surprise bombshell testimony. Indeed, the case, an accusation of sexual assault of a minor, featured no credible corroborating evidence, including eyewitnesses. It merely came down to believing the accuser or the accused.
Takeaway: The truth can be elusive. In a recent sermon (2/28/ 21) we addressed the importance of objective, bedrock truth. The absence of absolute truth produces uncertainty, indecision and anxiety because resolving important issues – like sending a man to prison or justice for an abused child – is crucial to this world’s operation. Pilate heard no hard evidence against Jesus, only accusations which he knew were born of envy (Mt 27:18). Yet in spite of this, Pilate violated the truth that he knew. Discerning and acting on truth isn’t always easy.
2) The best legal minds don’t always agree. The trial was interrupted numerous times when attorneys were summoned to the bench. Sometimes the judge bellowed, “Counsel, approach!” Sometimes the prosecutor objected to the questioning of the defense attorney; sometimes it was the other way around. The judge occasionally referred to law books he kept nearby. When these sidebars were going on, the courtroom speakers blared “white noise” – loud static – to drown out the conversation taking place at the bench. On one occasion the delay went on so long that the judge dismissed the jury to a back room until the legal matter could be resolved.
Takeaway: Human laws are man’s attempts to build on what God has already said. Scripture lays down the broad parameters of divine expectation for human behavior (cf. 1 Tim 1:9-10). Some things are specific: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice” (Eph 4:31); “No fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man … has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ” (Eph 5:5); etc. Other directives are generic: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you doubleminded” (Jas 4:8); “For the commandments … are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor …” (Rom 13:9-10).
As long as the world stands, man’s laws will constantly change. Sometimes they will mirror divine principles, but far too often they will contradict them. Lawyers and legislators, judges and juries will continue to disagree and debate in the hope that justice will prevail in spite of human imperfection. But God’s laws are timeless, certain and dependable.
3) Courtrooms are scary places. They are where laws enacted in the halls of legislature are applied to real people with frightening consequences. There is unfamiliar terminology, confusing procedures, armed bailiffs, an authority figure (judge) whose presence elicits both fear and respect, and twelve strangers who will decide the fate of the accused.
Takeaway: Human courts pale in comparison to the heavenly court of God. Scripture speaks of our future fate in judicial language:
“He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Ac 17:31).
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor 5:10).
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:13).
When I was in the courtroom I was thankful I was there as a juror and not the accused. But each of us has an appointment in our eternal future where we will be assessed by an all-knowing Judge who has no need of forensic evidence or witnesses or rows of law books. He will already know everything about us – our actions, motives and intentions – and His judgment will be accurate and final. There is no one higher to appeal to.
4) You do not want to be in a courtroom without a lawyer. Several involved in the case I heard, including the defendant, could not speak English; translators were used in every stage of the proceedings. This complicated the trial process immensely. Our system bends over backwards to fairly adjudicate criminal charges, and these people were blessed to have an advocate who understood the judicial lingo and laws and could represent them in such a crucial matter.
Takeaway: “My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 Jn 2:1). Thayer defines parakletos (advocate): “Universally, one who pleads another’s cause with one, an intercessor … so of Christ, in his exaltation at God’s right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins, 1 Jn 2:1.” John continues to say of our Advocate: “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2). Jesus came into the world to prove His love, compassion and mercy toward us. He now represents us before God. While He is our judge, He is also our advocate and ransom for our crimes against God. Thank God for helping us get through our coming judgment!
