Jesus My Advocate
- Isabelle Thom
- Apr 18
- 6 min read
LISTEN TO JESUS MY ADVOCATE WHEREVER YOU HEAR MUSIC!
Do you need an advocate?
Pause. Think about it.
Who stands in the gap for you?
Is it you?
Are you tired of losing? Of failing? Of fighting alone?
It was October. I had been in and out of the hospital with looming chronic health problems and no answers. I was on the brink of total emotional and spiritual despair, wondering if God had abandoned me, or if I had abandoned him. Sin was crouching at the door. I was believing the great lie that my failure had produced the silence, and my sinlessness would restore his love. I was weighed down by invisible guilt, trying desperately to find the one correct action that would fix it all.
I knew I was failing--and to be honest, I had become bitter and angry. My efforts for self-advocacy weren't working.
1 John burst onto the scene like a radiant peal of laughter, breaking the darkness.
John was writing to the church in modern-day Turkey-- but on that October day his words felt directed toward me from the gentle voice of Jesus.
"My little children," (he is tender.) "I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin." (But God, I have.) "But if anyone DOES sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2).
All of the sudden my eyes were upturned toward Jesus Christ the Righteous. The image was radiant. The cloud of condemnation and pain I had been blinded by felt pathetic in comparison. The words of 1 John were strong. Advocate. Propitiation. The WHOLE world (that's a LOT of sin.) The language is present tense. We HAVE an advocate. This is not conditional.
"Advocate" is not a passive role. Jesus was interceding for me. Pleading for me as I lay in my bed halfway through the day with the curtains closed, and as I went into the surgery room. Pleading for me in the midst of my anger, in the midst of my accusations. In the midst of my fear that my sin had brought on separation, he was actively covering me in his own Righteousness, pleading my cause based on his own work. God does not lose.
I wrote a piano ballad that day. The lyrics went as follows:
Jesus my advocate, one with the Father
Show me my sin that I might give it over
You bought my freedom by bearing my burdens
And rose still victorious to seal my forgiveness
Jesus, my advocate, alone I’m unworthy
You formed me and know me to bring you the glory
You make my dark caverns vessels for your mercy
My wholeness is found when you’re part of the story
Jesus my advocate, shame you defeated
I won’t fear sin because now I believe you
Truth sets me free from the power of hell
O’er those called beloved the grave has no power
Jesus, my advocate I need your mercy
My flesh loves the dark and my thoughts are unholy
Take self-sufficiency, pride and betrothe me
To Jesus, the Christ, who is making me holy
Jesus, my advocate, make me more ready
To feast at your table and see you completely
Already the darkness is passing, light shining
Make me a warrior of light till your coming
Make me a warrior of light till your coming.
It was the first song I had written in months. The melody was slow and lethargic, but the words were pillars of truth I clung to in a sea of lies.
I brought the song to Tyler in May--after the triumph of Butterfly, after the emerging from darkness into a season of reflecting the light and glorying in my Changer of Seasons. We knew it was important.
The refining process took days. It was hard to let go of what the song was, because God had met me so personally in that moment. I had to surrender it to him daily, and ask him for help to give back to him what he had given me, and allow him to transform it for the building up of his people.
It turned into a victory anthem for the church.
This is what happens when Jesus the Righteous is our advocate. He turns our cries of desperation and hopelessness into shouts of praise for all the world to hear. The world around us hears and is drawn in.
Isn't this the very heart of the cross? The God-man hanging on the cross in utter shame and humiliation, trembling with physical and mental anguish, after pleading with the Father to take the cup, crying out under the weight of feeling forsaken, passes through death and rises to shouts of joy. His resurrected body is a testimony to the power of the Almighty--the God who sees, the God who hears, the God who uses the vulnerable to conquer hell.
The death-defeater is our Advocate. The sin-bearer is our Advocate. The suffering and risen Christ is our Advocate. He WILL be glorified in our stories when we give ourselves to him. His advocacy transforms our cries of forsakenness into loud songs of joy for the edification of his Church. The gates of hell will not stand against his work.
After several months of refining, cross-referencing, seeking pastoral wisdom, sending voice memos back and forth and praying for the gospel to be proclaimed, we (Tyler, Jenny and I alongside several pastors and theologians pouring over these lyrics) emerged with Jesus My Advocate. Friends from all over joined their voices to create the choir. We recorded live trumpet to signify the coming of the new Kingdom He has won. Braden Crutchmer made this beautiful wood carving--a tangible reminder of Jesus's advocacy on Calvary's tree.
Jesus My Advocate
Jesus my advocate before the Father (1 John 2:1)
Casting my sins to the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19)
Bearing my burdens and carrying my grief (Psalm 68:19, Psalm 55:22, Isaiah 53:4)
Making me righteous on Calvary’s tree (Romans 3:22, 1 John 2:2, Romans 5:19)
Jesus, my advocate, gentle and lowly (Matthew 11:29)
Remembering my frailty in every plea (Psalm 103:14, Romans 8:26, Hebrews 4:15)
Lavishing kindness and grace when I’m weak (1 John 3:1, 1 Corinthians 13:4, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Ps 34:18, Ephesians 1:7, 2:7)
Your blood speaks a better word, mercy and peace (Hebrews 12:24, Romans 3:25, Colossians 1:20)
Jesus my advocate, my shame’s redeemer (Zephaniah 3:19, Colossians 1:19-20, Revelation 21:5, Rom 10:11)
I won’t fear sin for your Spirit is strong (Joshua 1:9, 1 John 2:1-2, 3:20, 1 Corinthians 10:13)
You call me blameless by your grace alone (Colossians 1:22, Ephesians 2:8-9)
Boldly I stand robed in white ‘neath your throne (Hebrews 4:16, Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 61:10, Ephesians 2:6-7, Revelation 3:5, 1 Kings 17:1, 18:15, 2 Kings 5:16, Revelation 19:7-8)
Jesus my advocate, Lamb of God reigning (John 1:29, Hebrews 1:8)
Till every enemy’s under your feet (1 Corinthians 15:25)
Death lost its power the day you arose (Romans 6:9, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
Ascending to heaven to make me your own (Luke 24:51, Acts 1:9, John 10:3)
Blessing, glory, honor strength
To you O Christ (Revelation 5:13)
Worthy are you risen lamb (Revelation 5:12)
Forever (Revelation 5:13)
Forever
Jesus, my advocate, make me more ready (Matthew 25:10)
To feast as your bride and see you as you are (Revelation 19:9, Ephesians 5:32, 1 Corinthians 13:12)
With love in your eyes and the blood that atones (1 John 4:8, Matthew 6:22-23, Mark 10:21, 1 John 1:7, Isaiah 43:4, Ps 34:15)
I’ll wait for you Jesus, till you bring me home (Isaiah 8:17, John 14:2)
I’ll wait for you Jesus, till you bring me home
Look up from your feeble attempts to advocate for yourself, friend. I've tried. It made my hands bleed.
Look to Jesus Christ the Righteous. He casts your sins to the depths of the sea. He shares in your grief. He remembers we are dust and lavishes mercy. He redeems our shame and transforms our fear into gospel boldness. He has made us his bride and is preparing a home for us.
Who else will advocate for you like that?
Hallelujah, it's Good Friday, Jesus the Righteous is our atonement. We have nothing left to plead, and nothing left to fear. Let's join our voices with the voices of those of heaven who see Him face to face. May he receive all of our blessing, glory, honor, and strength. He is worthy of it.
with JOY!
Isabelle Thom
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