Today, as the attorney for the defendant, I will present an opening argument. As an honest attorney, everything will be truthful. Consider, now, the case, The World Vs. Judas.
My client, if he was here, would not defend himself or even appear on the witness stand. The accusations against him have humbled him. He does not deny his guilt. Judas was well acquainted with the deceased. He knows that he caused an innocent man to die.
Judas did not persecute Jesus nor drive the nails. Neither did he draw blood on the accused. He knew that the officials would murder Jesus anyway, so why should be not extort a sum for the benefit of his sect? He knew that Jesus had committed no sin, but failed to realize that Jesus was and still is God in the Flesh. If only he really knew in truth that he was killing God, I propose that Judas would not have betrayed him.
I want to note that my client made no excuses; he blamed himself. Even Adam and Eve placed blame; Eve on the Serpent, and Adam on Eve, but yet God covered their sins with a coat fashioned from an animal, likely a lamb, who died for that reason. The Judge, Your Honor, (looking toward Heaven), was just but gracious at the same time. They suffered the consequences of their sin, but were still granted a reprieve. The shed blood of the animal was the propitiation for their sin. I admonish the Court to offer the same reprieve to Judas as Your Highness did to the first man and the first woman.
"I object!" screamed the prosecutor. "Adam and Eve merely ate of forbidden fruit; they did not kill God!"
"Objection sustained," an angel of God messaged. "Admittedly, Adam and Eve did not kill anyone; they, however, did diminish God."
"Let me rephrase, then," I said for the defense. "Did not Adam and Eve aid and abet the Serpent whose intent was to eliminate God and take his throne?"
"Where is your evidence for that?" queried the prosecution.
"The evidence is in God's Word," I replied. "This case is much like Adam vs. God back in the Garden. I submit that Adam and Eve was colluding - unwittingly - with the Serpent to steal God's identity, and by doing so, spiritually to kill God. They may as well have crucified God back in the beginning!"
"Please submit the evidence," God's angel relayed.
I walked forward to the altar, and opened Holy Scripture to this passage: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (Isa 14:11-14).
"The facts are that the angel, Lucifer, was punished by God for disobedience, and had hatred for God in his heart. As a hater, Lucifer had no qualms about God abdicating His throne to him, but knowing that He would not, Lucifer sought to kill God. He was so intent on diminishing God that he took a royal title - Satan - Prince of the Power of the Air."
"I object!" screamed the prosecutor with impatience. "Lucifer, aka Satan or the Serpent, never laid a hand on God That was his constraint. We find that God forbade that type of recourse in Job chapter one."
The Judge (from His throne), frowns on deception. He didn't like this narrative or where it was going. He, the most fair of the fair, said, "Continue; let's see where this is going."
I responded to the Judge. "I will use your own Word, Your Honor."
"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15). Also, consider another Word from Scripture: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). The former passage refers to whosoever and that inlcudes Lucifer. The latter correctly and directly identifies the Devil, another alias of Lucifer.
"The Serpent was trying to kill God by using God's creatures to do the killing. Adam and Eve wounded God, but it was emotional. The two died physically, but you, Judge, was lenient; they did not die spirtually since you physically died so that they would not perish forever."
"That is true!" nodded the Judge in agreement. "Do you know why I did that?"
I knew well why! "For you, God, so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life!" (John 3:16).
"I implore you, God, to have the same mercy on Judas Iscariot that you had for Adam and Eve. He is also one of the whosoever."
Again, the prosecution objected: "But God was not killed back then but was on Calvary!"
This time, the Judge called for quiet in the Courtroom, and all the Earth was silent; just for a moment, but for a short period of silence. Those few seconds seemed like 400 years of silence to the world.
The Judge spoke truthfully; "I was severly wounded when Eve ate, but she was deceived. What hurt the most was when Adam knowingly and willingly ate. It was as if I had been entirely forsaken. I did not die, but suffered death. That's what happened to Me in the Flesh on the Cross. The defense is correct; death was commenced in the midst of the Garden, and finalized on Calvary - the very same place! Judas's sin was very much like Adam's, but he didn't know what he was doing; he doubted that I was truly God until it was too late. His sin was more like Eve's since Satan beguiled him."
"Your Honor, I ask for a recess until tomorrow to study the Word more so as better to prosecute Mr. Iscariot," implored the prosecutor.
"I will give you one more day, and beware, tomorrow is not guaranteed," the Judge warned.
"Court dismissed until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow unless I decide to come now."
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