The Verdict is in ... JESUS IS GOD!!!

I OBJECT - Jesus on trial for claiming to be God

(scene: courtroom, podium is judge's bench, a bar stool is the witness stand)
(PROC enters, stands L of judge's bench, DEF enters, stands R of Judge's bench)
JUDGE - (enters, stands behind bench, pounds gavel) Court is again in session. Mr Prosecutor, call your next witness.
PROC -- Prosecution calls Rabbi Nathan Smith to the stand.
SMITH - (enters, crosses to witness stand, raises right hand)
JUDGE - Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
SMITH - I do. (sits)
PROC -- Alright, Mr Smith, tell the jury (points to audience) what you heard the defendant, Jesus of Nazareth, say on the date in question.
SMITH - He said, "Before Abraham was born, I am."
PROC -- And what did you take that to mean?
DEF -- Objection, calls for a conclusion.
JUDGE - (to proc) Counsel?
PROC -- Your Honour, the witness is a rabbi, an expert in Hebrew scripture and history. As such, he is qualified to draw some conclusions about what Jesus meant.
JUDGE - Objection overruled. The witness may answer.
SMITH - Well, everyone there knew that he was claiming to be God.
PROC -- And how did you arrive at that conclusion?
DEF -- Objection.
JUDGE - Overruled.
SMITH - Well, he used the term "I AM", which is the name God called himself when he talked to Moses over 2000 years ago.
PROC - And what made you conclude that the defendant was not merely using bad grammar?
DEF -- Objection.
JUDGE - Overruled.
SMITH - Well, Jesus taught in the temples and synagogues all over Judea. He was renowned for his learned teaching. He would never make a mistake like that. He would never say I AM when he was talking about a past event. Abraham lived thousands of years ago.
PROC - And how do you know that Jesus was not merely claiming to be thousands of years old?
DEF -- objectionable.
JUDGE - Overruled.
SMITH - Because Jesus slipped away into the crowd as soon as he said it.
PROC - And why do you think he slipped away?
DEF -- Objection.
JUDGE - Overruled.
SMITH - Because he knew that saying it made the Jews angry.
PROC - And how did you know that he was making the Jews angry?
DEF -- Objection.
JUDGE - Overruled.
SMITH - They were picking up stones to stone him to death.
PROC - And why do you think they were going to stone him to death?
DEF -- Objection.
JUDGE - Overruled.
SMITH - Our law requires us to stone people to death for blasphemy.
PROC - And how do you know that they were interpreting his words as blasphemy?
DEF -- Objection.
JUDGE - Overruled.
SMITH - The Jews don't stone people to death for bad grammar or for claiming to be old.
PROC - So, there's no doubt in your mind that Jesus was claiming to be God?
DEF -- Objection.
JUDGE - Overruled.
SMITH - Besides claiming to be the I AM, Jesus claimed, on several occasions, to be the fulfillment of several prophetic terms used by God to talk about himself in the scriptures. Oh, he was claiming to be God, alright.
PROC - The prosecution rests.
JUDGE - Your witness.
DEF -- Rabbi Smith, did you ever see Jesus do a miracle?
PROC - Objection. Irrelevant.
JUDGE - Overruled.
SMITH - Well, yes, of course. That -- and teaching -- were just about all he did for the last three years. I once saw him raise a man from the dead.
DEF -- Your Honour. The defense moves for a summary judgement.
PROC - Summary judgement?
JUDGE - The charges of blasphemy against the defendant Jesus of Nazareth are hereby dropped.
PROC - I object.
JUDGE - On what grounds?
PROC - The evidence in this case is compelling. This man was obviously claiming to be God.
JUDGE - Objection overruled. The defendant committed blasphemy if he claimed to be God, UNLESS the defendant IS GOD. In this case the defendant's miracles and the fulfillment of several prophecies proves he IS who he claimed to be.
DEF -- Then my client is free to go?
JUDGE - Not so fast. The defendant must still die on the cross.
DEF -- Your Honour, I object!
PROC - I object too. I think.
JUDGE - Objections overruled.
DEF -- But this is highly irregular.
PROC - Yes, you can't condemn an innocent man? Can you?
JUDGE - Well, let me put it this way. If Jesus DOESN'T die and raise from the dead, we will all spend an eternity in hell. NOW are there any objections?
PROC - Not from me.
DEF -- Well, when you put it like that....
JUDGE - Then, it's done. This court stands adjourned. (gavel, gavel) (all exit)
-Bob Snook-

John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 1:14
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 5:18
"For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God."

John 8:24
"I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins."

John 8:58
"Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'"

Exodus 3:14
"And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'; and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’"

John 10:30-33
30 "I and the Father are one."
31 The Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
32 Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?"
33 The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God."

John 20:28
"Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"

Col. 2:9
"For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form."

Phil. 2:5-8
5 "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Heb. 1:8
"But of the Son He says, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom."

Psalm 45:6
"Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom."