This Court is on Our Side

by John Comer

More than 400 of us were gathered in the jury assembly room of the Superior Court building in downtown Phoenix. Eventually, along with about fifty or so other prospective jurors, I was assigned to Judge Dougherty’s court-room. The young man before us stood accused of assaulting and wounding his victim with a deadly weapon. He had pleaded “not guilty,” but twelve out of our fifty would decide whether or not we agreed with him.

The judge explained the legal process of impaneling a jury and began the voir dire (French, for “to speak the truth”) as he asked a series of questions to try to determine who among the prospective jurors could impartially render a verdict. Perhaps more than a dozen were excused because they, as one lady rather interestingly worded it, were “deadly opposed to firearms.” It was his question about whether we would accept an ordinary citizen’s testimony as being of equal value as that of a law officer that excused me from jury duty. It just seemed to me that the man accused of assault with a deadly weapon might be more highly motivated to manipulate the truth than his arresting officer would be.

This courtroom experience was fascinating. Even so, I must admit that my mind wandered as a different scene of judgment kept creeping into my thoughts.

The Bible tells us that we are destined once to die and after that to face the Judgment (see Hebrews 9:27). These are sobering words. We’re told that those “who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” will be “punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-10). Scripture also has some serious warnings for believers who would abandon their faith.

But there is another side to this. The Apostle John assures us that Christians can approach the day of judgment with great confidence (see 1 John 4:17).

The day I was called for jury duty the judge wanted us to be unbiased and impartial, a good thing. But on the day when believers are called before our God, he will show neither of those qualities. The whole court will be on our side. We will have deserved the death penalty, and it will already have been carried out on the cross. There will be no need for us to beg for the mercy of the court; we will already have it because we are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (see Romans 3:21-26 and 8:31-39).

Praise God for his mercy and the atoning sacrifice of his Son!