One of the great plays was written by Elie Wiesel called The Trial of God. The author had spent time at Auschwitz as a teenager. It's a strange play, which wrestles with the question of suffering in our world. The story is about God being on trial for not doing more to stop the suffering we see in the world.
But the idea of God being on trial is much older than 1979 when this play was published. Because it was 2000-odd years before when a man stood on trial who claimed to be God in the flesh. The strange thing about this trial is that they weren't even interested in whether or not His claim was true!
He was on trial, simply because He claimed to be the Son of God.
When they confirmed that He claimed equality with God the Father, they declared Him guilty. They didn't examine the evidence to see if what He was saying was true.
I think that many people ever since have fallen into the same trap.
The Trial of Jesus That Never Ended
You see, in today's world, Jesus is essentially still on trial. It's up to each one of us to judge for ourselves whether or not His claims are true.
Think of it: Jesus came into your life in some or other way. Maybe you grew up in church, maybe a friend told you about Jesus, maybe you saw a movie about Him or a video. People were making huge claims about this Jesus - saying huge things: that He is God, that He is the answer, that He is what the world needs, that He can forgive sins and get us into heaven…
You had to judge, in a sense, whether or not what they were saying about this Jesus was true.
The question is still on the table today. Jesus comes into our lives and the question is: how will we judge Him?
Judging the Claims of Christ
Because He does in fact claim equality with God. He does in fact claim to be equal with God the Father. He does in fact claim to be the only way to heaven, and the only way to fulfilling life on earth.
Is He telling the truth? You be the judge!!!
It's a judgement you must make, because the consequences are eternal, one way or the other.
I pray you will come to see Jesus' claims for what they are: the very essence of life, and the very way to life eternal.
Thank you for your support my friends! In your extra devotion today, we look at Peter's words about a deep, reverent fear of the Lord which shows what Spirit-filled maturity truly looks like. Consider whether your life is marked by the holy, reverent fear of God that honours Him in all you do.