Lent - Day 28 (March 21)

Larger Catechism – Day 28 of Lent

Question 54:  How is Christ exalted by sitting at the right hand of God?

Answer:  Sitting at the right hand of God exalts Christ as the God-man; he is advanced to the highest favor with God the Father with all the joy, glory, and power of this position over all things in heaven and earth. There Christ gathers and defends his church, subdues her enemies, provides his ministers and people with gifts and graces, and intercedes for them.

There is much that could be said about the answer to question 54 of the Larger Catechism but I will focus tonight’s comments to the exalted Christ sitting at the right hand of God and that he intercedes for us.

We have a Savior and Lord that has experienced life as a human.  He knows what it is like to be hungry.  He knows with it is like to have people turn their back on him.  He knows what it is like to be hated.  He knows what it is like to have a close friend/loved one die.  He knows what it is like to feel physical pain.  He knows what it is like to face physical death.  Jesus understands what it is like for us as we go through life.

We have a Savior and Lord that can understand the things that we are going through.  In a sense we could say that he has empathy based on experience.  His empathy leads him to be an advocate.  He is an advocate because he loves us.

We are never alone when we are in Christ.  He walks with us through the “things” of life.  He encourages us as we live for him.  But more importantly, he intercedes on behalf of us with the Father.  He advocates for us. 

There are many times when a person has asked me to be a reference for them—usually for a college scholarship, a position at a Christian camp or for a job.  I am an advocate for a person when I give them a good recommendation.  I intercede for them when I tell the camp that they will be a great addition to their summer staff.  I speak on their behalf based on my experience with them as a Christ-follower and my understanding of the requirements of the position.  I do not recommend or advocate for someone if I do not feel they will do well in the task at hand.

Jesus places himself between the Father and us and functions as our advocate.  It gives me great comfort to know that Christ has confidence in me for the tasks he places before me.  It gives me a lot of incentive to do well at the tasks before me because I do not want to disappoint Jesus.

We have an advocate who loves us.  No one could ask for more!

Note:  There will not be a blog post tomorrow.  Tomorrow is Sunday and Sunday is not one of the forty days of Lent.  Sunday is a day to worship the risen Lord.  Have a wonderful Sunday gathered with brothers and sister in Christ bring worship to the living God.