As I was preparing for one of the messages I’ll be sharing with the ladies at the Ignite Pastors’ Conference in Costa Rica, I was reminded of our need to reflect on who Jesus really is. Somehow, in all the busyness of life, we become easily distracted from the one who has changed our eternal destiny.
So for my next few blogs, I’m going to bask in the greatness of who He is by looking at one specific title per post. Today, I want to focus on Jesus, our Advocate. In 1 John 2:1 we read, “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”
Now before I get started, I think I better warn you that I’m a “word” girl. I love looking at the root of a word, taking it back to its original language…finding out the depth and breadth of what it means. The time I have to post this blog doesn’t even begin to give adequate meaning to Jesus’ title, Advocate. But I do want to share a wonderful treasure that I discovered in preparation for the conference.
The original word for Advocate is pä-rä’-klā-tos and in 1 John 2:1, His title carries the significance as our Substitutionary Advocate who pleads our case with the Father. You see, as important as it is that He is our Advocate, He is more than that. He is our Substitutionary Advocate.
That means He pleads our case for us before the Father while He also stands as our Substitute. He secures our pardon through the appeal process because He’s already taken the punishment for our crimes. That’s what the cross was all about. It would be like a lawyer going before the judge and saying, “I know they’re guilty, but please set them free…and I’ll pay whatever penalty needs to be paid for them.”
Isn’t it interesting that our lives frequently distract us from doing that which matters most. Often times, we’re just like Martha. The Savior of our souls is in our very presence and we’re distracted by our “to do” list.
Today, curl up at the Savior’s feet. He is our Substitutionary Advocate and because of that, our debt has been stamped…PAID IN FULL.
I want to invite you back to join me on this journey of drawing closer to Jesus as we uncover the beautiful mystery of who He is. In my next post, we’ll be looking at Jesus, our Counselor.
Thanks for sharing this, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to your next post on Jesus, our Counselor.
Hi Aine,
Glad you stopped in. We serve and awesome God, don't we. He has made Himself known to us in ways we have yet to discover!! I liked your blog as well.