The judge is so stern.
He frightens me.
The case is my life-
What end shall be?
The gallery is filled,
An angel crowd.
The docket is called-
My name read loud.
Accuser declares,
His brief is packed
With evil I did,
With grace I lacked.
All constables stand
Alert today.
Strong chains are in place
To lead away.
I turn from my box
To seek a face.
Friends out of my past?
But not a trace.
The clerk of the court
Asks me to rise:
“Which lawyer serves you
At this assize?”
I tell him of One,
Jesus, by name,
Who came to my cell,
My case to claim.
I called for His help
Upon arrest.
My case was severe;
He was the best.
He asked for no fee,
Just trust in Him.
The judge was quite fair;
Our case would win.
I told Him with tears,
With grief and shame,
The charges were true.
I was to blame.
But somehow, this man,
With eyes so clear,
Commanded my trust,
Relieved my fear.
“Jesus the Christ
Argues today.
See, His arrival;
Hear Him, I pray.”
The great Advocate takes his place.
(Accuser looks nervous and frowns.)
This Jesus- light shines from His face,
Makes challenge on primary grounds.
“My Lord, there is precedent here.
A case can be tried but one time.
The charges at bar were all cleared.
Remember the trial, it was mine…
On Calvary’s hill I was nailed;
And judged in your eyes as all sin.
In Hell’s dungeon halls, Light prevailed,
And you ruled: ‘Enough for all men’.
This dear contrite soul has my plea,
By taking my name for his case.
And justly, you must set him free,
For, Father, I died in his place!”
His Lordship then smiles to the court
And looks upon me with changed eyes:
“Your faith has brought this good report,
A friend of my Son never dies.”
Note: This poem takes me back to the early 1980's. I was a young lawyer in a small community doing a considerable amount of court work and real estate and having an over-inflated opinion of my capabilities. Going to a liturgical church. Serving on the Board. Having just fathered a beautiful baby daughter. But suddenly my wife was depressed. Looking for answers with a few caring women in a small Bible- believing chapel. My momentum was jarred. My churchianity was threatened . I was angry. My wife was praying, reading scripture and smiling like never before.
I was convicted. A woman friend of Hilary's, a client of mine, got me cornered on a business trip and sweetly told me of man's fall in a garden, of Jesus' obedience in a garden and of faith's ultimate destiny in a garden paradise. I had little of this, I sensed. Other people, men, business-men started putting in a word for Christ. Off the pages of scripture leapt Job 9:32,33 "For he (God) is not a man as I am, that I should answer him,and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any days-man (advocate) betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both."
There was I, a rookie lawyer, looking for an advocate for my offences. Jesus was available. Soon the door of revelation was opened. Grace was extended. I asked Jesus to forgive my sins, to take over my life and to dwell within me. I take no credit for this. God had a plan.
How about you?
