Illuminate Community Church Podcast

Sermon Recorded June 17th, 2018 from the Series "Who is Jesus" In Old Testament times, attorneys didn't really exist in Israel. Defending the accused was such a sacred duty that the judge refused to delegate the work to anyone else. The judge himself served as the defender of the accused. The Jewish Encyclopedia gives insight: "attorneys at law are unknown in Jewish law." Their legal code required judges to "lean always to the side of the defendant and give him the advantage of every possible doubt." However, things had changed by the time of Jesus. The Pharisees were in power and they were not just. Instead of using the law appropriately, they manipulated it for their purposes and their primary purpose was to ensnare Jesus. To do this they entrap an adulterous woman and bring her before him. Outwardly Jesus is between a rock and hard place. But in reality this is never the case. Will he side with Moses and declare the death penalty, or will he prove to be the gentle man he says he is? Will he exercise justic