Although not closely, over the past four days I’ve been keeping my eye on the confirmation hearings of the Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. While I have limited knowledge of the process, my understanding is that it’s designed to determine whether or not Judge Barrett would be qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.
Prior to watching the last confirmation hearing for Judge Cavanaugh and the current confirmation hearings, I had never really paid attention to them. What I discovered is that these confirmation hearings are not only to determine if a person is a qualified judge, but they have also become battles between light and dark.
I fully understand that there must be a certain line of questioning that would reveal the competency and character of the person being examined. However, it has become clear to me that these hearings have merely become interrogations on how that nominee would vote on the hot-button issues in our country. In my opinion, the confirmation hearing is just another process that exposes and affirms that the enemy, the devil, continues to prowl around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
As I have been reflecting on the confirmation hearings on whether or not Judge Barret is qualified to be a Supreme Court judge, I think about each person’s process of determining whether or not Jesus is qualified to be their Savior and Lord. I think about how the Pharisees relentlessly tried to trap Jesus and how they slandered him. I think about their level of fear knowing that, if Jesus truly was the King and Messiah of the world, their reign of power would be over. I think about the clash between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of their dead religion.
As I continued to reflect, I thought about the first confirmation hearing in the Garden of Eden when the devil deceived Adam and Even implying that God was not a just and loving God. But rather that God had some personal agenda that would actually keep them from being just like him. The devil continues his attempts to deceive us with the same questions and assumptions today. Did God really say that? Does God really have the right to determine what is true? A just judge and compassionate judge would give me permission to make up my own truth. A just judge would never try stopping me from doing whatever I want to do. And all of the devil’s lines of interrogation are only for the purpose to get us to come to one conclusion like so many of those who were questioning Amy Barrett; there is no God and that truth is whatever I want it to be.
I am grateful that God has raised up an Amy Coney Barrett for such a time as this. And even though the battle between light and darks rages with greater intensity in our country and around the world, I find great peace knowing that God is a just and competent and compassionate and grace filled judge who sent his Son to save us. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:17-21)
Grace to you, and peace, Mike Altena