Revelations

A short story I wrote.

Revelations

                Gabriel sat down in his chair at the front of the court room. His robe was clean; his hair cropped the same as it was every other day. He was faced with a challenging case today, but one he had seen before. He had spent every day since Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden doing this work. He’d seen every case known to man, and he was good at it. Still, this was a challenging one, and it was a case that would take much deliberation to conclude the final judgement. All three cases would be presented at once. What was decided for one man would be decided for all.

            Adriel shuffled in the door, Ambriel following him. Cassiel entered as well, always interested in a court case. Harut from the Islamic department came in as well. He always enjoyed watching a judgement. In fact, many more poured through the door, sitting in the audience, curious to see what today’s verdict would be. Those from the institution of Hell sat on the left of the court room, and those from Heaven sat on the right. Following them, the jury came in. Saint Peter walked in, Jesus of Nazareth leading him, and entering last with a smile was the Metatron. God had many other issues to attend to, so usually the Metatron attended the daily judgements and sat in the jury. When these three entered the room, everyone rose to their feet to honour them. Gabriel looked into the audience and motioned for everyone to take their seats.

            “I thank everyone today for attending. Today is a special case, one I have not seen for, oh...” Gabriel thought for a moment. “Three hundred and twenty-one years. Please, bring them in now.” Three people were brought in. Gabriel pulled out the two files.

            The first man was named Thomas. Thomas was completely disabled. He was born Deaf, Dumb and Blind. He died at the early age of forty-six, and was a rare case indeed. Thomas had committed sins in his life, but not necessarily to his knowledge. His cousin Kevin had forced him into some very sketchy situations, and his uncle Ernie had taken advantage of him during his lifetime.

            The second man was named James, or Jimmy. Jimmy was Schizophrenic, and had developed multiple personalities. In fact, he had developed four personalities and had come to be known as “quadrophenic” by those who knew. When James was not suffering from a schizophrenic meltdown, he had never once sinned in his life. The problem was, when James was one of his alternative personalities, he had committed many crimes. Drugs, sex, idolatry... Everything possible to commit, he’d done.

            The third man was named Joshua, and had Down’s-Syndrome as well as autism. He was unable to understand the difference between right and wrong, and he was unable to develop past a mental age of two. Many tests over the years showed that he would never be able to live on his own, and due to his disability, would be unable to be left alone for any length of time as well. He was a danger to himself, and sometimes the people around him because although he had the mental functions of a two-year-old, he had the body of a full grown man.

            “Will the lawyers from both the institutions of Heaven and Hell please come forward?” Gabriel pronounced to the court. The apostle Paul came forward, standing on the right side of the room. The former apostle Judas came forward and stood on the left. Both Thomas and James sat in the center of the room. “Will the constituent from heaven please present his case?”

            “Thank you, your honour.” Paul said and walked to the very front of the room. “First, if we could, I would like to focus on Thomas’ special case.” Gabriel nodded at that. Paul continued. “Thomas was born with a clear disability. He had been unable to speak, hear or see for his entire life. Since his birth he has been abused by countless people, and all his parents ever wanted was for him to be cured. Thomas has never caused a sin in his life. He is pure and unable to cause wrong without someone forcefully lifting his hand to commit the wrong! He has been in a wheelchair for most of his life, unable to find his way around a room, let alone commit a sin. I would like to present forward that Thomas is completely devoid of blame in his life, and that although he is unable to recognize Jesus as his lord and saviour, he is not to blame for this problem. He was made that way in his mother’s womb, and it is God himself who created him. If God created him to be like this, can he be blamed for how he’s been abused? Can anyone blame him for any sins he’s unknowingly committed? Can he be blamed for not being able to follow the Lord? Of course not! He was born into this, and God knowingly made him this way! Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, he should be forgiven of his sins and allowed to come with me to heaven.” With that statement, Paul smiled confidently, and walked back over to where he was previously standing.

            “And your rebuttal is?” Gabriel said, holding out his hand towards Judas.

            “Thank you, your honour.” Judas smiled calmly and nodded at Gabriel. He approached the front of the room. He waved at the Jury. “How’re the hands healing there, Jesus?” He said with a sly grin. Jesus just smiled in response. Judas turned towards the court. “To respond to the ideas presented forward by Paul, I would first like to bring up a point about some of the legislation by which we must abide. In the Bible it says that each and every man is born into sin. Adam ate from the tree, as did Eve, and this brought sin into the earthly world. Now, I know that poor young Thomas here had nothing to do with that, but it is a law that each man deserves the punishment of death and eternal damnation! The only salvation from this punishment is... to follow Jesus Christ, so on so forth. Now, interestingly enough, prior to Sin entering the world, there were no ailments, no diseases, and no terrible afflictions in the world. Had there been no sin to have ever entered the world, Thomas would have all his senses. Because of the sins of his forefathers, he is unable to see, speak and hear. God did not create him to be without his senses, this world of sin created him to be that way. God makes each and every child perfect, but sin is what destroys them. This is all Biblical. The Bible is God’s holy word, his soul etched out on paper. If you let this man go to live in beautiful suburbia down on Lazarus lane, you betray God’s law.”

            “Objection, your honour!” Paul shouted as Judas finished.

            “Judas brings up a valid point, Paul, wait until your turn comes to speak.” Gabriel replied.

            “Thank you, sir.” Judas said, smiling at Paul. “I would like to press on some to the other cases which have been posed in front of us today. James is another special case, and I would like to bring him forward for questioning at this point.” Gabriel nodded. James walked forward and sat in the booth at the front. “Now, James, I want to talk about how you died.”

            James looked at Judas and nodded. “Alright, what would you like to talk about?”

            “James, how exactly did you die?”

            “Well... I died of a heroin overdose...”

“And who did you take the heroin from?” Judas asked, adjusting his clothes.

“...My friends.” replied James.

“Now, excuse me if I’m wrong, but your friends are openly worshippers of what has

been lovingly named the ‘Church of Satan’, are they not?”

“Yes, Judas. They are.”

The courtroom started whispering to each other. The volume level grew. Someone from

the right side of the room shouted “Why is this man even on trial? Send him to Hell!” Gabriel slammed his gavel into his desk.

            “Silence! Judas, continue.” Gabriel said forcefully.

            “Thank you, your honour. Now, as you can all see, he knowingly says that his friends were part of the Church of Satan! Is this not clearly a man who belongs under the jurisdiction of Hell!?”

            “Your honour, if I may?” Paul raised his hand and chimed in. Gabriel nodded. Judas walked back to the left of the room. Paul walked to Gabriel, looking at him. “James, you have Schizophrenia, do you not?” James nodded.

            “I have four personalities which have developed from this. I am unable to control when they will come out or how they will react. There is no pattern to when they surface, and there is no cure for it.”

            “You see? James has no control over his actions sometimes! This is a natural problem which has instilled itself in his brain! If he had control, he would not go out of his way to cause the problems which he has! When he is sober minded and not in one of his three separate personalities, he never does wrong. Not once in his entire life has he purposely done wrong! He lives to serve God and follow Jesus, but when his disability kicks in he changes. I do not fault him for this, and neither should anyone else. Also, due to the fact that he is a Christian and follows Biblical teachings, he should be forgiven of his sins and allowed into heaven. He should be welcomed with open arms on to Heaverly Hills!” Paul shouted, fist raised in the air, passions streaming from his voice.

            “Your honour, these extra personalities of his are still a part of him. If three out of four of his personalities deny God, he doesn’t truly believe. He doesn’t truly follow. Three quarters of him doesn’t believe! Maybe we should allow one quarter of him into heaven and the other three quarters to hell!” Judas chimed in.

            “These extra personalities are not his fault! Do you think he chooses to have them? Of course he doesn’t!”

            “Ah, but perhaps he chooses not to rid himself of them. James, why do you never commit wrong? Is it ‘cause your negative side is satisfied by the wrongs your other personalities commit? You never have an urge to do wrong because you’re constantly doing wrong! Tell me it isn’t true!” Judas said, his volume rising, pointing his finger at James. James sat silently, staring at the floor. “The silence confirms the truth! Each man needs to do wrong! He is no different than every other man!”

            “In that case, he should be set free since he believes in Jesus!” Paul shouted, anger filling up inside him.

            “Ah ah ah, seventy five percent of him doesn’t believe in following Jesus!” Judas waggled his finger.

            “Just because you betrayed Jesus, not everyone else will also!”

            “Calm down, both of you! Move on to the third defendant.” Gabriel said over top of them. Paul stormed to the other side of the room, Judas stood with his arms crossed, glaring after Paul. “Paul, please begin with an opening statement about Joshua.”

            Paul walked to the front again, calmer and more in control. “Joshua has been raised his whole life in a Christian home. There is no doubt he belongs in heaven. He goes to church every week, he does his best, and although he can be a challenge often since his disability prevents him from mentally growing up past the age of two, he is not a malicious man and follows the laws in the Bible. He is a follower of Jesus and should be saved from sin.”

            “And what do you have to say, Judas?” Gabriel looked over at Judas. Judas leaned over the front row of the audience and stood flirting with a beautiful girl. “Judas!” Gabriel shouted, causing Judas to jump up and look over.

            “I’m sorry your honour. We were discussing the case.” Judas cleared his throat. “Clearly, this man, Joshua, cannot be accepted into heaven. Yes, he was raised by a Christian family. Yes, he is not malicious about his actions. Yes, he has a disability. The problem is though, that he does not have a proper understanding of Jesus and therefore does not truly follow him. How can he possibly be saved from the eternal grave?”

            In the audience, someone stood up. “I think, if you don’t mind me interjecting, the case of the elementary school bus crash from 1964 should be taken into account.” Gabriel nodded.

            “It will be.”

            “I think it’s good to take that into account, your honour. But I also think you should remember that this is not a child we are dealing with. He is a man.” Judas said. Paul nodded.      “It is true. He should be treated as a man. But as a man who was raised to follow Jesus, like any other man, he should be forgiven of his sins.”

            “As I said, he does not truly follow Jesus. He is simply forced to go to church each week. Church does not make one a believer.”

            “In this case, Judas, it does.” Paul replied, his tone becoming aggressive again.

            “Enough. We have heard enough.” Gabriel spoke, silencing the two lawyers. “Jury, i would ask that you please deliberate among yourselves and make a decision. There will be a half hour recess as a decision is made.” Gabriel walked into the back room. He was thankful the Jury was on duty today. Too many times had he made challenging decisions. It was nice to have the occasional break. Half an hour passed, and they all gathered back inside. Everyone discussed among themselves what should be done, believing their opinions to all be right. In the end, whatever the Jury decided would be correct. Gabriel looked around, stood at his desk and picked up his gavel. He hammered it down three times, and shouted.

            The Jury stood in front of everyone and the Metatron looked across the room.

            “Thank you for your attention. We feel we have come to a logical, and completely lawful decision.”

Author's Note

Although there is a "cliffhanger" ending, it's simply because I don't have the answer to what would happen. There are many musical references throughout from a very famous band also.