Before Good Friday can be good, something must be very bad. What could be so bad that Jesus would need to die in our place? Are we really in any kind of severe danger? If taken to court, would there be sufficient evidence to render a guilty verdict against us? And, would the charges be petty theft or capital murder?
In the first two chapters of Romans, the apostle Paul assumes the role of the focused prosecuting attorney. But who is on trial? Paul seeks to convict three separate defendants: 1. the Immoral person. 2. the Moral person. 3. the Religious person. Paul's effort meets the burden of proof and will end with a closing argument to the Judge – that all three are guilty and deserving of death.
Really? Yes, really. Let's explore each defendant:
1. The Immoral Person
In Romans 1:18-32 Paul goes for the jugular, accusing the Immoral person of capital crimes against God. What crimes? Calling the Immoral person to the witness stand, he enters into evidence a long list of allegations, which my NIV Bible itemizes as follows:
- wickedness (18)
- not glorifying God (21) (i.e. stealing credit from Him)
- not thanking God (21) (i.e. pretending to be self-made)
- sexual impurity (24)
- worshipping what we create, rather than God (25)
- same-sex sexual behavior and desire (26-27)
- Paul summarizes that the immoral man is: "filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, ... full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice ... and are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, disobedient to parents, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless." (29-31)
That's a daunting list! And through it all, Paul says the Immoral man is therefore "without excuse." He makes a strong case, beyond reasonable doubt (or even unreasonable doubt), that the immoral person is guilty before a holy God.
2. The Moral Person
Next, Paul calls the Moral person to the witness stand. While the Immoral man might deserve legal conviction in the courtroom, surely the Moral person does not! Surprisingly, things don't fare much better for the Moral man once the evidence is presented. Why? Simply this: the Moral person is a counterfeit, a fallacy. There is no such person, merely the perception of such a person. He or she is a phantom.
Paul indicts the so-called moral person by rightly accusing him of the following:
- you do the same things as the immoral man! (2:1) (i.e. he does all the same things as the list above, from 1:18-32).
- you are stubborn and unrepentant (2:5)
- you are self-seeking (2:8)
- you reject the truth (2:8)
- you follow evil (2:8) (zing!)
The "moral" person does all this while giving the impression of doing none of it. He is self-deceived, pretending to be a shiny hood ornament on a rusty, old junk car.
3. The Religious Person
Ok Paul, I see what you mean. Both the Immoral and so-called Moral persons are actually guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors against their Maker. True enough. But certainly the same can't be said of the devout, the pious, the religiously-oriented person, right?
Wrong.
Note Paul's surprising words to the Religious person:
- you brag about your "great" relationship with God (2:17)
- you steal (2:21)
- you commit adultery (2:22; also see Matthew 5:27-28 for Jesus' expanded definition of adultery)
- you brag about possessing the law, but break it and dishonor God (2:23)
- you are a lawbreaker (2:27)
Typically we call such a Religious person a hypocrite.
At this point, Paul has successfully made his case against all three defendants, satisfying the burden of proof. And each defendant knows Paul is right. But then an interesting twist: Paul, the prosecuting attorney, asks permission to approach the bench. Gazing up at the Judge, he essentially makes himself a co-defendant in the trial, alongside the Religious person!
Paul writes, "What shall we conclude then? Are we (the Religious persons) any better? Not at all! We are all under sin. As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one." (3:9-10)
Not even someone as religious as Paul will escape the judgment of God.
So, what possible hope do any of us have? If our hope depends on our record, we have none. But there is hope if the perfect and innocent record of Another could be credited to our account. Of course, that means justice before God (Judge) won't be accomplished by our performance, but by the performance of Another – a Heroic Rescuer. Who is he, and why would he do this for me?
This is the message of Good Friday. When understood, it makes it Great Friday. Unbelievable Friday. Undeserved Friday. Everything Friday.
Today our world cries, "Justice!" I don't think that's what we really want. Once Paul's case is made against us, we no longer want Justice, we want Mercy. The good news (which is unique to true Christianity) is God Himself executed justice upon His Son for our crimes, and in exchange extended mercy to guilty defendants, setting them free. This is the gospel of Good Friday. Mercy for criminals like you and me.
"God treated Jesus as though He were me, so that He could treat me as though I were Him."
If you understand this, pick your jaw up off the floor and celebrate the One who would do this for you! Never forget: you must embrace the guilty verdict to relish the undeserved pardon.
Case Closed.