Why?

The question of why robs you of any sleep, haunting and plaguing your own soul. You toss and turn on your bed, occasionally opening your eyes to look at your alarm clock. 12:00 AM, 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM. As the glowing green numbers shift by the minute, you find yourself lying awake on your bed. You sigh, partially out of frustration, partially out of regret. After a couple more tosses and turns, you finally make the decision to get out of bed. Perhaps some of the fresh night air will do you good. Turning on the light in your room, you find your shoes and step outside of your apartment, onto the second-story balcony.

Even late at night, you see so many cars, trucks, and big rigs racing down the street. Dang, you think to yourself, where are you people going at this hour?

But your mind wanders back to the events of the big trial. It has only been a couple of days since the trial, but with all that has gone on, it feels like two years. First, you were arrested after a massive shootout with the police. You were holding up good, but they got you anyway. Then, you were ushered into the courtroom with a pretty long rap. Yeah, you lied. You cheated. You lusted. You got what you wanted when you wanted, and that included doing some pretty risky things to get what you wanted. You may have even killed a man or two. Some of the things you did are so embarrassing that you just don't even want to think about it. And, adding insult to injury, you didn't even have a defendant. The things you did were so horrible that nobody wanted to defend you. You felt lonely, scared, and isolated from society. Everyone else had it all put together; you were just the broken jar.

Why?

And just as expected, you got the sentence -- guilty. Because of all the crimes you committed and the severity of those crimes, the punishment for you was death. So, you were condemned as guilty and sentenced to death row. Case closed.

But then something weird happened: the Judge actually took your place. The Judge, who is either some hero or a crackpot, took upon Himself the penalty for your crimes. It's not everyday that some random judge takes the place of a criminal, but this One did. 

Why?

And then you were the one to sentence the Judge to death. Yes, you lowered your gavel, taking the place of the Judge. But I didn't even want be there! you protest. But the Judge offered. No, no, He commanded you to be sitting where He was at and judge Him. This boggles your mind. "Wait-wait-wait just a minute," you whisper, walking yourself through some logic. "He, the Judge, who has the power and authority to set free or condemn, took my place?" You hold your hands up to your head. "This is crazy! What kind of wacko Judge does that? This boggles my mind!"

And then He had to die.

The Judge was beat up by the crowd just outside the courthouse. He was mocked, spit upon, hit with fists and kicks. His beard was yanked out, and His cheeks were bashed in. Even more so, the crowd stripped the Judge of all the clothes He had. Men and women, who were average citizens, mocked the Judge all the more. The Judge -- bloodied, bruised, and naked -- was escorted to a tall wooden structure made by the crowd. You remember watching on in horror as the Judge had long, nine-inch nails driven into His wrists and feet. Pound. Pound. Pound.

And yet, you can remember hearing the Judge say under His breath, over and over, "I am doing this for [Your name], I am doing this for [Your name], I am doing this for [Your name]..."

Until...

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"Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last" (Luke 23:46, WEB).

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That night, the Judge was buried in the tomb of some rich guy. You forgot his name, but he was some big-time donor in the city. You cannot not help but replay what happened on that day, where you saw the nails driven into the hands and feet of the Judge. Pound. Pound. Pound.

You begin to hear the pounding of your own heart as hard questions roll through. Why? Why did the Judge display such passion for me? Why did the Judge die on my behalf? Before you knew it, Saturday passed, and today was, well, technically Sunday. But you cannot help but feel the guilt and sorrow of sentencing your Judge to death. It hurts you more and more to even think about that moment when the Judge told you to lower the gavel. When you lowered that gavel, you felt a transference of justice. No, it wasn't just that you were up on the Seat of Justice (which is rather odd in and of itself). But, it felt like you were, in some sense, giving over your burden to someone else who offered to take it. While it certainly was great to live as a free man, you also feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. Survivor's guilt, perhaps?

You walk away from the balcony and head back inside your apartment. Yes, you were a free man, but at what cost? Yes, the Judge offered His own life for you, but why? You should have been up there. You should have been beaten, bruised, naked. You should have been killed, not the Judge. The Judge was innocent, not guilty, yet He took upon Himself the penalty for all your crimes.

Just then, there is a knock at the door. Pound. Pound. Pound. You hurry to the door, frightening and alarmed at the suddenness of the noise. Hurriedly putting on some nicer clothes, you rush to the door as the person keeps knocking. You open the door. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to Denny's for breakfast." It was the Judge, fully clothed and fully healed! "Food's on me."

You nearly fall backward, face paler than a ghost. "WHAT!!!???"

"Judge, you're-you're alive!?"

"In the flesh. If you want, you can feel my hands and my feet."

"YOU'RE ALIVE!!! THANK GOD YOU ARE ALIVE!!!"

You then realize that your enthusiastic reaction was more than enough to wake all the animals in Yosemite. A nearby neighbor yells from their apartment, "Hey, shut up! I'm trying to sleep!" Lowering your voice, you whisper-shout, "You're alive! I thought you were dead?"

"I was," spoke the Judge, "but in order to secure your freedom, I had to rise again. As I once said to some men, 'The Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again' (John 10:17-18, WEB). And, well, here I am."

You slap yourself. Ouch. You're not dreaming. 

"But I saw you die," you protest. "I know I did. There's no way you were able to survive all that."

"Oh, I did die," the Judge countered. "I died for you. But as I already said, I have the power to lay down my life, and the power to pick it up again. And not only that, but I also fought for you. I even hog-tied the lawyer."

Inside the basement of the courthouse was a the weaselly lawyer, all tied-up and very distressed. He even had tape over his mouth. "Mph mwh hph!" he shouted.

"Your accusers are no more," the Judge continued. "You are truly a free man. You only need one more thing to secure your freedom."

"What is it?"

The Judge turned pensive. "Well, as I wrote to a client one time -- he was a very lukewarm client -- 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me' (Revelation 3:21, WEB)." Then, looking at you with eyes of compassion and mercy, the Judge asks, "Do you want to truly be free? If you do, then all you have to do is put your trust in Me. I want a relationship with you."

You pause for that last bit and back away. "Umm..." you say cautiously. "What kind of relationship?"

The Judge chuckled. "Don't worry, I know what you are thinking. It's not that." Then the Judge continues, this time being slightly more serious, "I want to adopt you as one of my own children. What I did on the Cross, I did it out of love for you. I have seen your troubled past and I know all the reasons why you did what you did. But, I desire to have you as part of my family. I have many sons and daughters, and so you are always welcome to join my family. If you decide to join my family, you will be blessed with eternal life and freedom from your sins."

"Really?"

"Yes. Do you want to truly be free?"

The sun begins to shine brightly over the city as the dawn approaches. The birds chirp their morning song and the dew falls from plants onto the sidewalk. You and the Judge walk over to the nearby Denny's, talking all pancakes, waffles, and being a part of the Judge's Forever Family. This is the start of a brand new day, both for the birdies and for you. You never thought that morning would come. In fact, you never even thought you would be even walking with the Judge. As you enter though the double doors of the faithful pancake house, you cannot help but think to yourself how dramatically different your life is. You were a bad guy. You were a criminal. But then the Judge stepped in and interceded for you. And because of that...

...because of the price the Judge paid for you...

...because of the resurrection of the Judge...

...you are forever changed...

...and you are free.

• "...because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay" (Isaiah 53:4-6, NIV).

• "He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31, WEB).

• "[The angel] said to them, 'Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him!'" (Mark 16:6, WEB).

• "But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6, WEB).

• "Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit" (1 Peter 3:18, WEB).

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Happy Easter! He is risen!