This morning is the fourth sermon in our series ‘The People’s Choice Sermon Series’ and today’s sermon is entitled (slide 1), ‘Jesus…Our Lawyer…Our Savior.’
And I begin this morning with a brief TV trivia quiz that asks, (slide 2), ‘Who is not a famous TV lawyer?’ Are you ready?
Among the lists of the following persons, who is not the TV lawyer?
(2a) Robert T Ironside
(2b) Commander Harmon ‘Harm’ Rabb
(2c) Ally McBeal
(2d) JL McCabe
(2e) Oliver Wendell Douglas
It is… (2f) Robert T Ironside
Okay, here is a second list of persons. (Slide 3)
Is it…
(3a) Jack McCoy
(3b) Denny Crane
(3c) Amy Gray
(3d) Matt Dillon
(3e) Ben Matlock
It is… (3f) Matt Dillon
Now, I know attorneys are the subject of numerous jokes and the profession is, at times, highly maligned. But, an attorney, when you need one, is a very important professional who has been given certain authorities and powers which have significant implications.
According to my dictionary, a lawyer is a person ‘who is trained and qualified to give legal advice to clients and represent them in court.’
Lawyers practice law. What does that mean? To practice something in this manner is, according to my Webster’s second New Riverside Dictionary, ‘to practice a profession.’
I confess to you this morning that when I first began to process the request to preach a sermon on Jesus as our lawyer, I thought, ‘where is this idea found in scripture?’ I know that in Romans Paul speaks of the law and how Christ fulfilled the law. Yet the law being referred to, at least as I interpret those sections, is more than a legal code like we have today. It was a moral and ethical code that started with the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses given to the Israelites early in the journey to the Promise Land.
But when I entered the search term, ‘lawyer’ in my Bible software, our main text for this morning popped up on my screen. So let’s turn to it and see what it has to say to us about God, about Jesus being our lawyer.
(Slide 4) Lamentations 3:58 says, ‘Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case! For you have redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord. Be my judge, and prove me right.’
The book of Lamentations (which means the act of lamenting) is a book written soon after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians approximately 600 years before Christ’s birth. The traditional belief is that Jeremiah wrote the book.
In this book the prophet laments the destruction of Jerusalem and the spiritual condition of what is left of Israel. His grief is profound and as we read in chapter 2 and verse 11, ‘I have cried until the tears no longer come. My heart is broken, my spirit poured out, as I see what has happened to my people.’
Yet he goes to confidently assert in verses 19 – 24, ‘The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
We see a noticeable change take place in the prophet’s heart and attitude because of his confidence and trust in the Lord! Though he is deeply, deeply troubled and saddened by the situation in his nation and with his people, he ultimately remembers that the Lord is merciful and that the people have been delivered from complete destruction.
As we move through chapter 3 to our main text, Jeremiah reflects on God’s mercy and graciousness and calls the people to repentance and renewal by examining their hearts, thoughts, and lives as well as turning back to the Lord as we read in verses 40 through 42:
‘…let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn again in repentance to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, “We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us.’
Then his thoughts turn to those who have conquered them, their enemies and that they have been abandoned by God. Fear becomes a factor and the prophet weeps uncontrollably. He then recalls the experience of being chased down by his enemies and thrown into a well or pit and crying out to the Lord for help as we read in verses 52 to 54.
My enemies, whom I have never harmed, chased me like a bird. They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me. The water flowed above my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”
Ever had a similar experience? Ever felt like Jeremiah did?
God seems far away… nothing is going right… life is a mess…you are pursued by the people and they are not friendly! And you’re miserable!
But God hears Jeremiah, and He hears us!
“But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the well, and you heard me! You listened to my pleading; you heard my weeping! Yes, you came at my despairing cry and told me, “Do not fear.”
Then we come to our main verse and the prophet says, ‘Lord! Defend me! Plead my case in heaven!
In his commentary on this passage RK Harrison indicates a link to a very important Old Testament person, the ‘kinsman-redeemer.’ In Leviticus 25:25 we read, ‘If any of your Israelite relatives go bankrupt and are forced to sell some inherited land, then a close relative, a kinsman redeemer, may buy it back for them.’
Probably the most well-known kinsmen redeemer in the Old Testament was Boaz who as we read in the book of Ruth was the kinsmen redeemer that made it possible for Ruth and Naomi to survive by allowing Ruth to pick grain in his fields.
Walter Kaiser points out that in Isaiah God is presented as a kinsman redeemer to Israel and that this role involved three things. ‘Physical redemption from bondage, inward, personal, and spiritual redemption with the removal of personal sin for Israel, and the [future hope] of redemption when Jerusalem and the land were rebuilt.’
Notice again what the Leviticus text speaks of… ‘Bankruptcy.’ Who do people call when bankruptcy becomes an unfortunate necessity or a scary possibility? A lawyer, right?
One area of legal practice, and for some a legal specialty, is bankruptcy. Those who practice this form of law, know just about all there is to know about what the various chapters of bankruptcy say, what forms to file, the process of bankruptcy, and so forth.
But what the Bible says here is that it is not an attorney or a lawyer that is to help us get out of a financially challenging situation but a kinsman redeemer. This kinsman redeemer is the one to by back the land and keep it in the family. Why?
The purpose of what we call the Old Testament Law is more a covenant or we might say a contract than a legal code that governs our affairs today. It was designed to help the people of Israel truly become the people of God. And so when Jeremiah cries out to the Lord, “Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case! For you have redeemed my life,” what he is seeking is not to right a legal wrong, but to be redeemed by God and his situation, and that of Israel, set straight. The Lord would redeem Jeremiah and Israel, He would act as their attorney, they lawyer, and He would free them, politically and spiritually from the bondage of exile and sin so that when Jesus came to earth and hung on the cross for our sin, He came to a people who had been redeemed time and time again through the Law but would soon be once and for all redeemed by His sacrifice on our behalf.
(Slide 5) In Hebrews 9:24 and following we read, ‘For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Advocate. He did not go into the earthly place of worship, for that was merely a copy of the real Temple in heaven. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the earthly high priest who enters the Most Holy Place year after year to offer the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all time, at the end of the age, to remove the power of sin forever by his sacrificial death for us.’
I know of no attorney who will take the punishment for a client. They represent and they advise their clients but they do not go to jail on behalf of their clients.
We are guilty because we are sinful. We are rebellious, we are arrogant, we are in need of redemption and so Jesus took our place that through Him we might experience forgiveness. But, that is more than an attorney will do for us.
(Slide 6) We read in Romans 3:25, ‘For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.’
Jesus is more than our lawyer… He is our redeemer and Savior! Through Him we have been made right with God.
(Slide 7) Paul also goes on to say this, ‘Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.’
(Slide 8) 20 years ago I was involved in a well-known evangelism program which included the question, “If you were to die tonight and stand before God and He were to ask you, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ what would you say?”
It is a very pointed question. It is a very serious question. I don’t hear it asked very often but is gives (or should give us) pause for reflection.
Jesus said in John 3:17, ‘God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.’ That is a very important thing to remember in reflecting on this question. Jesus came so that we can correctly respond, ‘Because I accepted His forgiveness of my sins and shortcomings and choose to live for Him with His help and strength.’
(Slide 9) But Jesus goes on to say in verse 18 and following: “There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. (Slide 10) They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants.”
Jesus has made it possible for us to be ‘not guilty’ when the final judgment comes for each of us. His death and resurrection has made it possible the assurance of eternal life with God and the experience of real freedom from sin in this life as well.
This morning, as you sit where you are, imagine with me that this platform is the front of the courtroom. Imagine with me that you sit in the seat of the defendant.
To your right in this courtroom, sits Satan, the Devil. His job is to get a guilty verdict and keep you from experiencing forgiveness and new life. To your left sits Jesus, your attorney. His job is to get you your freedom!
Before you, Jesus, and Satan sits God the Father. He is the judge and the jury. He is perfect! (Slide 11)
It is a tense situation, just as tense and full of drama as anything that TV or the movies can deliver. But it is not made up it is real because it is about you!
In Zechariah 3:1 we read, “Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. Satan was there at the angel’s right hand, accusing Jeshua of many things. And the Lord said to Satan, “I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from a fire.”
Satan does the same to us. He accuses us of many things. We are guilty of many things. But Jesus wants us to be declared ‘not guilty.’
So you, your accuser, and your attorney and your Savior wait for the verdict.
The silence is deafening. The tension grows unbearable. Guilty or not guilty?
Then God asks you a simple question, ‘Do you confess your guilt and do you wish to make things right?’
‘Yes!’ you resolutely answer, ‘I do confess my guilt and want to make things right.’
Then another question, ‘Are you willing to pay the price of your guilt?’ You begin to answer, ‘Yes.. .’ but you are interrupted. ‘Father, I have seen to that,’ your attorney answers.
‘Then,’ the judge thunders, ‘NOT GUILTY!’
The gavel comes down and you hear the word, ‘case closed!’
Satan slinks away, grumbling and muttering under his breath. The holy judge gathers Himself up and leaves the bench and you stand there stunned… but free!
You turn to your attorney and you try to say thank you, but the tears interrupt your words and Jesus embraces you and says, ‘Go free! Live free! Serve free!’ And you do… living in the forgiveness of your guilt.
We can only take the analogy so far because if we are honest with God and ourselves this morning, we are repeat offenders. But, if we are truly sorry for our repeats and truly want to turn around and live the right way, then each time we hear the words, ‘Not guilty… case closed.’
As you sit before the Lord this morning, and we are sitting before the Lord this morning, He asks you, ‘Do you confess your guilt and do you wish to make things right?’
We have been forgiven! We have been redeemed! And it is because of Jesus Christ has done for us.
I invite you to do the following this morning: (11a) Confess your sins to God. Regular confession is good for the soul!
Then (11b) Believe and live in light of the belief that you are forgiven because you have experienced that forgiveness.
As John would write later in life (11c), ‘But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.’
God, through Christ, has given us a reason to live and a purpose to live. Embrace it today.
Amen
Sources:
Famous TV Lawyers is located at http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/lpop/
Kaiser quote, page 214 in Toward An Old Testament Theology by Walter C Kaiser, Jr. © 1978 by Zondervan.
Power Points for this sermon are available by e-mailing me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and asking for ‘012807slides’ Please note that all slides for a particular presentation may not be available.
