Christ Is Not on Trial: The Crisis of Judging Life from a Human Perspective

Rev. Dr. Samuel D. Stephens

Christ: The Final Standard

E. Stanley Jones tells of a man who looked at several paintings in a famous gallery and dismissively remarked, “I do not think much of these.” The attendant replied, “Excuse me, sir, the pictures are not on trial. The people who viewed them were.” Jones then applies the illustration to Jesus Christ: “Jesus is not on trial now. When we give our judgment of Him, we judge ourselves.”

This is a profound theological statement. Humanity often assumes that it possesses the authority to examine Christ, evaluate His teachings, accept what appears reasonable, and reject what seems inconvenient. Yet the Christian faith declares that Jesus Christ is not one opinion among many, nor one moral teacher to be compared with others. He is the eternal Word through whom all things were created. He is not measured by human systems; human systems are measured by Him.

The apostle Paul writes that Christ is “before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Jesus is therefore not relative to history, culture, politics, economics, philosophy, or religion. These are relative realities. They arise within time, change with circumstances, and frequently contradict one another. Christ alone is absolute. His person, character, truth, and Kingdom provide the final standard by which human life must be understood.

The present moral confusion in society has emerged largely because this order has been reversed. Instead of allowing divine truth to judge human conduct, society increasingly allows human preference to judge divine truth. Good and evil are no longer understood primarily through the character and will of God. They are defined through public opinion, political ideology, personal desire, cultural convenience, or economic advantage.

The Reversal of Divine Order

This reversal has placed society on a downward spiral.

When humanity becomes the author of its own morality, moral values cease to be stable. What one generation condemns, another may celebrate. What one culture calls justice, another may call oppression. What an individual considers freedom may become the cause of another person’s exploitation. Without a transcendent moral authority, society possesses no final foundation upon which to distinguish truth from falsehood or righteousness from selfishness.

The book of Judges describes such a condition: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). This was not presented as freedom or progress. It was a description of social and spiritual disorder. When everyone becomes the judge of truth, truth becomes fragmented. When personal preference becomes the highest authority, power eventually replaces morality. Those with the greatest influence, wealth, political control, or media reach determine what society is expected to accept.

This is visible in many areas of contemporary life. Human dignity is often measured by usefulness, productivity, caste, race, wealth, religion, age, or social status. Relationships are treated as disposable when they no longer satisfy personal expectations. Leadership is evaluated more by popularity and power than by integrity and service. Justice is selectively applied depending on political advantage. Religion itself is sometimes manipulated to divide communities, strengthen political identities, and justify prejudice.

These developments are not merely social failures. They reveal a deeper spiritual dislocation. At the root of the downward spiral is humanity’s desire to occupy the place that belongs to God. The first temptation in Scripture was the promise, “You will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). The central human rebellion is therefore not simply the breaking of individual commandments. It is the attempt to become the final authority over truth, morality, and life.

Jesus confronts this rebellion simply by being who He is.

Christ Exposes the Human Heart

His purity exposes our corruption. His humility judges our pride. His compassion reveals our indifference. His truth unmasks our deception. His sacrificial love condemns our selfishness. His treatment of the poor challenges our greed. His forgiveness exposes our resentment. His servant leadership judges our hunger for position and power.

When people encounter Christ, they cannot remain neutral. Their response to Him reveals the condition of their hearts. Some rejected Him because His truth threatened their authority. Others followed Him because they recognized in Him the words of eternal life. Christ did not change according to the judgment of the crowd. The crowd revealed itself through its judgment of Christ.

The practical question, therefore, is not whether Jesus meets the standards of modern society. The question is whether modern society meets the standard revealed in Jesus.

The Church Must Submit First

The Church must begin by submitting itself to that standard. Christians cannot call society back to divine truth while living according to the same values of pride, consumerism, prejudice, dishonesty, and power. The credibility of Christian witness depends upon the visible formation of Christ within His people.

Families must teach children that truth is received from God, not manufactured by desire. Educational institutions must recover the relationship between knowledge, character, and moral responsibility. Leaders must understand authority as stewardship rather than entitlement. Economic life must value people above profit. Religious communities must demonstrate that faith produces compassion, justice, reconciliation, holiness, and service.

Transformation Beyond Laws and Systems

Society will not be renewed merely by stronger laws, better systems, or more advanced technology. These may restrain certain forms of evil, but they cannot transform the human heart. Renewal begins when individuals and communities stand honestly before the person of Jesus Christ and allow themselves to be judged, corrected, forgiven, and transformed by Him.

Jesus Christ is not standing before the judgment bar of humanity. Humanity stands before the judgment bar of His person. Our response to Him reveals what we truly value, whom we truly serve, and what kind of society we are building.

The paintings in the gallery were not on trial. The viewers were. In the same way, Christ is not diminished when society rejects His truth. Society diminishes itself. The way upward begins when humanity stops judging God by human standards and allows every value, system, institution, and ambition to be judged in the light of Jesus Christ.