Jesus, Our Advocate

1 John 2:1

It might strike some of us as a bit odd that the apostle John would use the phrase “an advocate with the Father“ to describe our Savior. In the context of today’s verse, the word advocate implies someone who pleads our case before a legal court of justice; in other words, a lawyer. And today’s legal world, a lawyer pleads his client’s case, whether or not, he believes that client is innocent. An advocate before God in heaven is different from an earthly lawyer in that he pleads the case before the Father knowing full well that we are guilty as charged, that we’ve certainly committed the offense charged against us. This goes far beyond today’s legal standard of “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.“ When Jesus pleads our case, it’s not before a stern judge who begrudgingly offers punishment. On the contrary, Jesus pleads our case before a loving, holy God who promises to “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” when we simply confess our sins.