Would Yeshua Represent a Guilty Client?

[Humble Penny]

I have long wondered what the ethical and moral implications are if I were to defend a client that I, others, or the evidence shows to be "guilty". While mulling over this in my mind and consulting other attorneys the dialogue in the Art of Ruling between the 72 Hebrew Elders and king Ptolemy II Philadelphus in his banquet hall came to mind:

"The king praised the answer and then asked the next man:
How could I do everything for the best in all my actions?

And he replied:
If a man maintains a just bearing towards all, he will always act rightly on every occasion, remembering that every thought is known to God. If you take the fear of God as your starting point, you will never miss the goal.

“When all had signified by their applause their agreement with the answer, the king said to the philosophers (for not a few of them were present),

'It is my opinion that these men excel in virtue and possess extraordinary knowledge, since on the spur of the moment they have given fitting answers to these questions which I have put to them, and have all made God the starting point of their words.’

And Menedemus, the philosopher of Eretria, said,

'True, O king, for since the universe is managed by providence and since we rightly perceive that man is the creation of God, it follows that all power and beauty of speech proceed from God.'"
Letter of Aristeas (emphasis added mine)

Seeing that these men gave sound answers to the king by placing God as their starting point I asked myself, "What does the Word of God have to say about the question posed in my thread title?" And I recalled the stories of Daniel in the Lion's Den and the Adulterous Woman.

In the story of Daniel we read that the other advisors of king Darius were jealous of Daniel's position and favor with the king, and when they could find no fault in his conduct they created a new law to entrap Daniel: this law lasted for 30 Days and stated that all who wouldn't worship the king as "God" would be put to death; and, these evil advisors played on king Darius' vanity which resulted in him passing the law; and Daniel knew that if he disobeyed he would be guilty and put to death. In the end Daniel was found guilty, and though Darius tried very hard to find loopholes in the law to excuse Daniel he had no choice but to condemn him as guilty for he broke the letter of the law, although Daniel had obeyed the first and second commandment; in the end God miraculously saved Daniel from being eaten by the lions in their den, and after Darius found this out he threw in the truly guilty party to be eaten and die.

As for the Adulterous woman we see that the Pharisees were attempting to trap Yeshua and the response of our Lord is very interesting:

"The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?'

But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.'

Straightening up, Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.'"
John 8:3-5, 7, 10-11

What was this sin Jesus was referring to that the accusing party had committed? According to the Law of Moses both the man and woman caught in adultery must be brought forth before the court in order to be judged: therefore seeing that only the woman was present Christ couldn't lawfully go forward in judging the case because all of the parties weren't present at court...and this is despite the fact that Yeshua knew the woman was indeed guilty! Christ didn't move forward with the proceedings because the accusers had not properly proved their case.

After meditating on these stories deeply I came to understand that just because God and Christ are wise and know everything that others don't know or can see: they are demonstrating that this is not justification to condemn people for sin without going through proper court proceedings by questioning, cross-examination, witness testimonies, producing evidence, etc. being brought forth before the public. And while Yeshua wasn't approving of the adultery He didn't move forward with prosecuting the woman because her accusers refused to move forward with their prosecution! This is why at the end of the world there will be a Final Judgement...what a just and wonderful God we serve...

In closing we see that no matter what the material evidence is that is brought forth to the court, and whatever the verdict is in our earthly courts: God will be the Final Judge who will righteously judge every single case and truly aquit the innocent and condemn the guilty. And I hope that this encourages other lawyers to look at the court cases in the Word of God to learn from them and aid them whether they are on the prosecution or defense side, but especially to the latter party for it is a tough question to answer:

"How do you defend a "guilty" client?

 

[Blade]

Not sure this is what your talking about but you know I think there was a guilt offering. That guilt is also something else He Christ died for. I think He would just point to that empty cross

 

[pdudgeon]

Not sure this is what your talking about but you know I think there was a guilt offering. That guilt is also something else He Christ died for. I think He would just point to that empty cross

Agreed. There is a final judgement that everyone will face.
So if there is any doubt, or not enough evidence to securely detain, then let the charges be dismissed, and the accused go free, that from this grace they might learn to mend their ways in the future.

 

[Humble Penny]

Not sure this is what your talking about but you know I think there was a guilt offering. That guilt is also something else He Christ died for. I think He would just point to that empty cross

Agreed. There is a final judgement that everyone will face.
So if there is any doubt, or not enough evidence to securely detain, then let the charges be dismissed, and the accused go free, that from this grace they might learn to mend their ways in the future.

Amen and amen!!!

 

[Humble Penny]

Agreed. There is a final judgement that everyone will face.
So if there is any doubt, or not enough evidence to securely detain, then let the charges be dismissed, and the accused go free, that from this grace they might learn to mend their ways in the future.

This is great insight here in your last sentence sister! I never considered that, but it is an excellent point to remember that the guilty never "got away" with evil, but instead were granted mercy by God to turn from their sins and give their lives to Him! Hallelujah! This just shows even more how loving and merciful God is with all of us...it just brings me to tears...

 

[Humble Penny]

I have long wondered what the ethical and moral implications are if I were to defend a client that I, others, or the evidence shows to be "guilty". While mulling over this in my mind and consulting other attorneys the dialogue in the Art of Ruling between the 72 Hebrew Elders and king Ptolemy II Philadelphus in his banquet hall came to mind:

"The king praised the answer and then asked the next man:
How could I do everything for the best in all my actions?

And he replied:
If a man maintains a just bearing towards all, he will always act rightly on every occasion, remembering that every thought is known to God. If you take the fear of God as your starting point, you will never miss the goal.

“When all had signified by their applause their agreement with the answer, the king said to the philosophers (for not a few of them were present),

'It is my opinion that these men excel in virtue and possess extraordinary knowledge, since on the spur of the moment they have given fitting answers to these questions which I have put to them, and have all made God the starting point of their words.’

And Menedemus, the philosopher of Eretria, said,

'True, O king, for since the universe is managed by providence and since we rightly perceive that man is the creation of God, it follows that all power and beauty of speech proceed from God.'"
Letter of Aristeas (emphasis added mine)

Seeing that these men gave sound answers to the king by placing God as their starting point I asked myself, "What does the Word of God have to say about the question posed in my thread title?" And I recalled the stories of Daniel in the Lion's Den and the Adulterous Woman.

In the story of Daniel we read that the other advisors of king Darius were jealous of Daniel's position and favor with the king, and when they could find no fault in his conduct they created a new law to entrap Daniel: this law lasted for 30 Days and stated that all who wouldn't worship the king as "God" would be put to death; and, these evil advisors played on king Darius' vanity which resulted in him passing the law; and Daniel knew that if he disobeyed he would be guilty and put to death. In the end Daniel was found guilty, and though Darius tried very hard to find loopholes in the law to excuse Daniel he had no choice but to condemn him as guilty for he broke the letter of the law, although Daniel had obeyed the first and second commandment; in the end God miraculously saved Daniel from being eaten by the lions in their den, and after Darius found this out he threw in the truly guilty party to be eaten and die.

As for the Adulterous woman we see that the Pharisees were attempting to trap Yeshua and the response of our Lord is very interesting:

"The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?'

But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.'

Straightening up, Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.'"
John 8:3-5, 7, 10-11

What was this sin Jesus was referring to that the accusing party had committed? According to the Law of Moses both the man and woman caught in adultery must be brought forth before the court in order to be judged: therefore seeing that only the woman was present Christ couldn't lawfully go forward in judging the case because all of the parties weren't present at court...and this is despite the fact that Yeshua knew the woman was indeed guilty! Christ didn't move forward with the proceedings because the accusers had not properly proved their case.

After meditating on these stories deeply I came to understand that just because God and Christ are wise and know everything that others don't know or can see: they are demonstrating that this is not justification to condemn people for sin without going through proper court proceedings by questioning, cross-examination, witness testimonies, producing evidence, etc. being brought forth before the public. And while Yeshua wasn't approving of the adultery He didn't move forward with prosecuting the woman because her accusers refused to move forward with their prosecution! This is why at the end of the world there will be a Final Judgement...what a just and wonderful God we serve...

In closing we see that no matter what the material evidence is that is brought forth to the court, and whatever the verdict is in our earthly courts: God will be the Final Judge who will righteously judge every single case and truly aquit the innocent and condemn the guilty. And I hope that this encourages other lawyers to look at the court cases in the Word of God to learn from them and aid them whether they are on the prosecution or defense side, but especially to the latter party for it is a tough question to answer:

"How do you defend a "guilty" client?

I forgot to add at the end of my OP that because of everything said in it: that it is on the accusers to be sure that they can throughly prove their case in court to reach a guilty verdict, and therefore on the defense side they have the lawful right to not incriminate themselves and may use all legal and lawful paths to cast doubt on the evidence brought forth by the accused. This therefore doesn't justify the evil, whether or not they are guilty, but rather this makes it very difficult to prosecute someone on false charges or lack of evidence.

 

[Lulav]

Would Yeshua Represent a Guilty Client?

Aren't we all guilty? Isn't that why he is called our advocate? When we are brought before the bema and the books are open isn't that truly when our faith justifies us?

''My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Yeshua the Messiah, the righteous."

 

[Humble Penny]

Would Yeshua Represent a Guilty Client?

Aren't we all guilty? Isn't that why he is called our advocate? When we are brought before the bema and the books are open isn't that truly when our faith justifies us?

''My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Yeshua the Messiah, the righteous."

Yes sister I was crying so much today as I felt the love of Yeshua washing over me. And yes we are all guilty and that is why He is our High Priest, I just thought this thread post would help open up the eyes of those who don't understand these things or may have never thought about these things this way.

 

[visionary]

I love the stage where after the forgiveness is given, the blotting out process begins in the book of life, and once accomplished, we will remember our sins no more.

 

[Humble Penny]

I love the stage where after the forgiveness is given, the blotting out process begins in the book of life, and once accomplished, we will remember our sins no more.

Amen sister! Praise God for the forgiving blood of Yeshua Messiah!!! Without it we'd forever be guilty before YHWH and be unable to dwell in His presence.