Sooner or Later, Everyone Needs an Advocate

Do you ever watch crime shows? I’ve followed a few fairly consistently, and in each episode there’s the moment when the suspect is being questioned by detectives. Just when the interrogating authorities seem to have the alleged perpetrator dead to rights, he or she announces, “I want my lawyer.” What they are really saying is, “I need an advocate to come to my defense.” 

A friend was recalling a time when a few moments of youthful impulsiveness got himself into hot water with law enforcement officials. His actions did not cause anyone’s harm, but still resulted in a citation and an appointment to appear in court before a judge.

 

Initially, my friend thought, “No problem. I’ll just go before the judge, plead my case, and it will all be over.” However, an attorney he knew convinced him otherwise. There’s a protocol that’s followed in the courtroom, the lawyer explained, and determining to serve as one’s own advocate is a recipe for even greater legal problems.

 

On the appointed day, my friend and his attorney dutifully arrived at the courtroom and were summoned before the judge. As instructed, my friend stood silently as the lawyer spoke on his behalf, serving as his advocate. “The judge never looked at me,” my friend recalled. “The judge directed each of his questions to my attorney. In the end, I was sentenced to probation and community service.”

 

If you’ve ever had to appear in court, perhaps this scenario sounds familiar. But even if you’ve never been summoned to a courtroom, there will come a day – as it will for each one of us – when we will stand before a judge: God Almighty, THE Judge of all eternity. As we’re told in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

 

The Scriptures make it clear we will definitely need an advocate then. If we try to justify ourselves based on the lives we have led, even if they seemed fairly good by human standards, we’ll be in serious trouble. As Romans 3:10 declares, “There is no one righteous, not even one…,” and Romans 3:23 asserts, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

 

God, who is perfect, holy and righteous, would rightly judge each one of us guilty and deserving of eternal punishment because of our many sins – disobeying His laws and commands. Except we have an advocate if we have received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. In 1 John 2:1-2, we read this assurance: “But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

 

When we stand before God and acknowledge our lengthy list of sins, we won’t have to speak on our own behalf. We would have nothing to offer in our defense. However, Jesus, who went to the cross to pay in full the penalty for our sins, will speak up on our behalf. Perhaps He’ll say something like, “It’s okay. He (or she) is with Me. I’ve already taken care of it.”

 

This idea of having an advocate to stand up for the helpless isn’t a New Testament innovation. In the Old Testament’s book of Esther, we read about a man named Mordecai, Esther’s cousin. He was instrumental in foiling a plot to kill the Jews in Persia and Media. At the end of the book it says of Mordecai, “He worked enthusiastically for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of all his descendants” (Esther 10:3).

 

In the book of Job, which tells about a series of terrible losses the God-fearing title character had endured, he encounters unwarranted accusations from a succession of “friends” who feel certain his suffering is punishment for his sins. Job replies, “Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God” (Job 16:19-20).

 

We could cite other examples, but none can compare with what Jesus has done and offers to do on behalf of each one of us. Romans 5:10 states, “For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!” And Romans 8:34 proclaims, “Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God – and He is interceding for us.”

 

When the time comes, who will be there to represent you and testify on your behalf? Are you confident the Advocate will come to your defense? If not, today would be a good day to settle that.