HERE COMES THE JUDGE

The Soul Anchor [Hebrews 6:19] - April 1, 2026

Recently I served on jury duty, and during the closing arguments the judge said something that caught my attention:

“Now that the case is in your hands, you have become the judge.”

Later, the defense attorney added something even more surprising after making his case during closing arguments:

“When you enter the deliberation room, you can do whatever you want.”

At first, that sounded completely absurd to me. Surely there are rules. Surely there are standards.

But the more I thought about it, the more I understood what he meant, at least when it comes to rendering a verdict. The jury has the freedom to decide the standard by which they will judge. In theory, we could have said,

“The defendant is guilty because we don’t like his hairstyle.”

We could have found him not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based on the fact that we did not like the prosecuting attorney’s wardrobe selections. Of course, we didn’t. But the point stands—the authority to judge had been handed to us, and with it came the sobering responsibility to judge rightly or render whatever verdict we chose for whatever reason.

And yet, the astonishing message of the gospel is this: Our Judge chose mercy. Our Judge chose sacrifice. Our Judge chose to place the verdict of “guilty” on His own Son instead of on us, the true violators of the law.

In Romans 3:25- 26 Paul explains it this way,

“ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

In other words the judge pays the penalty Himself.

Isaiah foretold this when he wrote, But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5).

At the cross, the Judge stepped down from the bench and took the sentence we deserved. And that brings us to Easter.

Easter is the moment when the Judge’s verdict was revealed: Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted. The empty tomb is God’s declaration that the debt is paid, the case is closed, and all who trust in Christ are forgiven and free.

Jesus Himself said,

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24).

What an incredible truth as we approach celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection. The God who had every right to judge us chose instead to save us. The God who could have condemned us chose to call us His children. The God who owed us nothing gave us everything. My time on jury duty reminded me of the weight of judgment. The Easter story reminds me of the wonder of grace. May we never forget what it cost the Judge to declare us free.