Tuesday, June 6, 2017

The Advocate

                              Image result for 1 John 2:1

From a Florida prison cell in June 1962, Clarence Earl Gideon wrote a note asking the United States Supreme Court to review his conviction for a crime he said he didn’t commit—stealing $50 worth of beer from a pool hall. He added that he didn’t have the means to hire a lawyer.

One year later, in the historic case of Gideon v. Wainright, the Supreme Court ruled that people who cannot afford the cost of their own defense must be given a public defender—an advocate—provided by the State. With this decision, and with the help of a court-appointed lawyer, Clarence Gideon’s case was retried and he was acquitted of felony theft.[1]

But what if we are not innocent? According to the apostle Paul, we are all guilty (Rom. 3:23). But the court of heaven provides an Advocate who, at God’s expense, offers to defend and care for our soul, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Jesus is our divine defense attorney who comes to us offering a freedom that even prison inmates have described as better than anything they’ve experienced on the outside. It is freedom from sin and shame. Whether suffering for wrongs done by us or to us, we all can be represented by Jesus. By the highest authority He responds to every request for mercy, forgiveness, and comfort. Jesus, our Advocate, can turn a prison of lost hope, fear, or regret into the place of His presence.

Bible commentator, John Phillips says it like this: “When Satan comes before God, he comes as “the accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10).  This is one instance in which he does not come to tell lies about us, even though he is the Father of all lies…Sad to say he comes to tell the truth about us.  But, he gets nowhere.  The Accuser is met by the Advocate and all He has to do is raise His pierced hands and Satan is silenced.”[2]

There is one critical difference in this courtroom from all others—the one holding the gavel is your Heavenly Father, the defense attorney bears scars from paying your fine and the defendant (that’s you) happens to be loved unconditionally by both. Are you beginning to see the picture here? The courtroom is stacked in your favor.  If God be for us, who shall be against us?

-DM





[1] Mart De Hann, “The Advocate,” Our Daily Bread, 9 February 2017 <https://odb.org/2017/02/09/the-advocate/>
[2] John Phillips, Exploring the Epistles of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2003), 41.  

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