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DISCHARGED AND ACQUITTED (A TRUE LIFE STORY)
While waiting for my case to be called, I paid keen attention as the Judge read Ken’s judgment.
He had been on trial for murder, facing the death penalty, having been accused of killing someone.
With gloom written all over her face, Ken’s mother was in court when the wardens produced him from Enugu Prisons that day.
Family and friends were there too; they had not missed a single court session since his trial started, over seven years earlier.
The judge took over an hour to read everything about Ken’s trial, from its inception to that point when the final judgment was due.
There was silence everywhere.
On account of precedents, when Judges read judgements, experienced lawyers could tell at some point where the court may eventually land, way before a verdict given.
Ken, his mother and all those who came to court on his account must have had an idea of what being found guilty meant.
They paid rapt attention.
The atmosphere around the court was blue; it was obvious that this was a matter between life and death.
I knew the drill. From all that was said, a pair of outcomes was imminent: conviction for murder, and an attendant death sentence.
While waiting to hear the words “…you would be hung by the neck till you are dead”, the verdict took a dramatic turn.
“He should have been found culpable (guilty)” the judge said “but when he killed the deceased, he was juvenile, and could not have reasonably understood the consequences of his actions that lead to the death of the deceased…I find him not guilty as charged. He is hereby discharged and acquitted.”
There was a split second of silence, and then a whole lot of drama ensued.
Tears flowed, as Ken, his mother and other relatives rolled on the court floor, thanking the Judge.
I had seen a whole lot of acquittals before Ken’s, but his was different.
First, by virtue of the court’s findings, the fact that he had indeed killed someone was clear, and he got to understand the consequence being found guilty of murder.
He knew the weight of what could have happened to him if there wasn’t a twist.
And so, this made him more appreciative of the freedom that came with his discharge and acquittal.
Indeed, he and his family members were deeply grateful for the twist that accommodated the defense (excuse) of his juvenile status as sufficient grounds to relieve him of the death penalty, notwithstanding the fact that he did exactly what he was accused of – he killed a human being.
Rejoicing over the Judge’s verdict, Ken walked away from court that day, a free man.
He did not have to return back to prison like he did before, after every court session for over seven years.
He was admonished by the Judge to live right from that time forward, so as to avoid such old ways and crimes that could land him back in jail or even send him to an early grave.
Just like Ken, all humans have sinned and are deserving of the death penalty.
But God, the Judge, factored a twist – Jesus, into our story, our trial and His eventual judgement; and pronounced us NOT GUILTY, on account of the finished works of Christ, by virtue of which we have been discharged from the bondage of the sinful nature, and acquitted of all guilt, in spite of all the punishment we deserve.
Accepting, believing and confessing Christ as Saviour and Lord activates the “Not Guilty” verdict in a man’s life.
Without such deliberate activation, a man is bound to face the consequences of his guilt, notwithstanding the fact that there’s been a sure verdict that offers freedom from such.
He would remain behind bars, having refused or neglected to accept the full package of freedom that guarantees realty and unending benefits of being discharged and acquitted. Don’t be this man.
And for those of us who have walked into freedom by activating God’s verdict, there is a requirement to walk by grace, in newness of life; refraining from returning to those old ways that are guaranteed to land us behind bars once again, having made mockery of all that was granted us by the twist through which we were set free in the first place.
If we do not understand the extent of our depravity on account of sin, and the magnitude of such punishment which should have been ours if we had not been delivered, we may never get to that point where we fully appreciate the purport of God’s twist and the purpose for which He made the ultimate sacrifice.
Also, if we do not realize what we have become on account of the finished works of Christ that made a twist in our verdict, we may keep wallowing in the past, living in guilt and its attendant effects; failing to lay hold on our new reality in Christ, and the full scale of such benefits that accrue to us thereby.
May we receive grace wherewith we live lives that are truly exchanged with that of Christ, being conformed to His image day by day;
dying more and more to the flesh, as we stir up the deposits of God in our lives;
making the inner man come alive with an assortment of condiments that come by grace, with which we advance by the help of the Holy Spirit, on the accurate trajectory ordained for us aforetime.
Let this Easter count.
© Ogbole Agala
He had been on trial for murder, facing the death penalty, having been accused of killing someone.
With gloom written all over her face, Ken’s mother was in court when the wardens produced him from Enugu Prisons that day.
Family and friends were there too; they had not missed a single court session since his trial started, over seven years earlier.
The judge took over an hour to read everything about Ken’s trial, from its inception to that point when the final judgment was due.
There was silence everywhere.
On account of precedents, when Judges read judgements, experienced lawyers could tell at some point where the court may eventually land, way before a verdict given.
Ken, his mother and all those who came to court on his account must have had an idea of what being found guilty meant.
They paid rapt attention.
The atmosphere around the court was blue; it was obvious that this was a matter between life and death.
I knew the drill. From all that was said, a pair of outcomes was imminent: conviction for murder, and an attendant death sentence.
While waiting to hear the words “…you would be hung by the neck till you are dead”, the verdict took a dramatic turn.
“He should have been found culpable (guilty)” the judge said “but when he killed the deceased, he was juvenile, and could not have reasonably understood the consequences of his actions that lead to the death of the deceased…I find him not guilty as charged. He is hereby discharged and acquitted.”
There was a split second of silence, and then a whole lot of drama ensued.
Tears flowed, as Ken, his mother and other relatives rolled on the court floor, thanking the Judge.
I had seen a whole lot of acquittals before Ken’s, but his was different.
First, by virtue of the court’s findings, the fact that he had indeed killed someone was clear, and he got to understand the consequence being found guilty of murder.
He knew the weight of what could have happened to him if there wasn’t a twist.
And so, this made him more appreciative of the freedom that came with his discharge and acquittal.
Indeed, he and his family members were deeply grateful for the twist that accommodated the defense (excuse) of his juvenile status as sufficient grounds to relieve him of the death penalty, notwithstanding the fact that he did exactly what he was accused of – he killed a human being.
Rejoicing over the Judge’s verdict, Ken walked away from court that day, a free man.
He did not have to return back to prison like he did before, after every court session for over seven years.
He was admonished by the Judge to live right from that time forward, so as to avoid such old ways and crimes that could land him back in jail or even send him to an early grave.
Just like Ken, all humans have sinned and are deserving of the death penalty.
But God, the Judge, factored a twist – Jesus, into our story, our trial and His eventual judgement; and pronounced us NOT GUILTY, on account of the finished works of Christ, by virtue of which we have been discharged from the bondage of the sinful nature, and acquitted of all guilt, in spite of all the punishment we deserve.
Accepting, believing and confessing Christ as Saviour and Lord activates the “Not Guilty” verdict in a man’s life.
Without such deliberate activation, a man is bound to face the consequences of his guilt, notwithstanding the fact that there’s been a sure verdict that offers freedom from such.
He would remain behind bars, having refused or neglected to accept the full package of freedom that guarantees realty and unending benefits of being discharged and acquitted. Don’t be this man.
And for those of us who have walked into freedom by activating God’s verdict, there is a requirement to walk by grace, in newness of life; refraining from returning to those old ways that are guaranteed to land us behind bars once again, having made mockery of all that was granted us by the twist through which we were set free in the first place.
If we do not understand the extent of our depravity on account of sin, and the magnitude of such punishment which should have been ours if we had not been delivered, we may never get to that point where we fully appreciate the purport of God’s twist and the purpose for which He made the ultimate sacrifice.
Also, if we do not realize what we have become on account of the finished works of Christ that made a twist in our verdict, we may keep wallowing in the past, living in guilt and its attendant effects; failing to lay hold on our new reality in Christ, and the full scale of such benefits that accrue to us thereby.
May we receive grace wherewith we live lives that are truly exchanged with that of Christ, being conformed to His image day by day;
dying more and more to the flesh, as we stir up the deposits of God in our lives;
making the inner man come alive with an assortment of condiments that come by grace, with which we advance by the help of the Holy Spirit, on the accurate trajectory ordained for us aforetime.
Let this Easter count.
© Ogbole Agala
