Poster Archive : JULY 2008
Message: There is one mediator... Christ Jesus
You're woken in the dead of night by a squad of policemen. You're handcuffed, hooded, and then thrown in a paddy wagon. Arriving at the detention centre, you're stripped and locked in a cell. Confused and frightened, you're told you'll face a judge in the morning, and you can make one phone call.
Who do you call? You may want to call your spouse, a parent or maybe a good mate? But if you've only got one call, you'll probably ring a lawyer - someone who knows how to negotiate with police, who knows the law and, more importantly, knows how to handle the judge.
Who cares how much he charges? As long as he's good, and can get you out of this hell. Mates and relatives can comfort, but the person you need to talk to is an advocate, a good representative, a mediator.
The Bible makes it clear there's only one mediator who can win our case before the Judge of all. Only Jesus can represent us. Here's why:
As God's son, Jesus paid for our crimes by dying on the cross. So he understands God's anger at our sin and he did what no one else could do. He offered his own life in our place to take the punishment we should have had. Because he's sinless and because he's God (part of the Trinity or three persons that God is), Jesus is able to take our case directly to the Heavenly Court and plead our case before the Father.
It's funny then, isn't it, that as we approach God we scramble about for all kinds of other mediators. We look to all kinds of religious people and ask them to pray for us, to intervene for us. We go to a conference and think that if we meet the high-profile speaker, he'll be able to bring us closer to God.
But God makes it clear the only mediator He'll negotiate with is His own Son, Jesus.
To try other mediators is not only pointless, it's offensive to God. So we shouldn't pray to those who've died, like Mary, Jesus' Mother, or any other person. Nor should we approach the living - be it Pope or peasant. The only person we can and should pray to is Jesus.
Prayer: Dear God, Thank you for providing the one Mediator who understands what I'm going through, and can plead my case directly with you. AMEN