us to overcome. It is not His will that we should be placed at a disadvantage in the conflict with Satan. He would not have us intimidated and discouraged by the assaults of the serpent [Satan]. of good cheer,’ He says, have overcome the world’” (Ellen G. White: The Desire of Ages, ‘Be ‘I p. 122). IN A COURT OF LAW Some of us are fascinated by the ways in laws are enforced. In many lands, being accused of criminal behavior means that a person must be in a court for the crime. That “tried” person is tried in front of a judge and perhaps a jury to decide whether or not she actually committed the crime, and if so, what the punishment must be. It is very important to have a good defense attorney to plead the case of the accused. The defense attorney usually tries to prove that the client is innocent, or should at least have a very light punishment. Unfortunately, not all attorneys are honest, and some use dishonest ways to assure that their clients have no punishment at all. When this happens, the accused often pays the lawyer a very large sum of money. It is also true that sometimes the prosecuting attorney is not an honest person, and will try very hard to prove that an innocent person is guilty. This was the way it was in the time of Jesus. Some of the priests and pharisees wanted to get rid of Jesus, so they used every excuse they could find against Him. Read about one such instance in Luke 13:10-17. In this story what was Jesus doing? Who was there who needed special help? What did Jesus do? How did the man in charge of the synagogue react? How did Jesus defend the woman and His own action? (verses 15 and 16). Verse 17 (NIV) says, he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the “When people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.” While Jesus would never unnecessarily shame anyone, it was His responsibility to show people where they were doing wrong, where they had begun to follow man’s tradition instead of God’s merciful way.
us to overcome. It is not His will that we should be placed at a disadvantage in the conflict with Satan. He would not have us intimidated and discouraged by the assaults of the serpent [Satan]. ‘Be of good cheer,’ He says, ‘I have overcome the world’” (Ellen G. White: The Desire of Ages, p. 122). IN A COURT OF LAW Some of us are fascinated by the ways in laws are enforced. In many lands, being accused of criminal behavior means that a person must be “tried” in a court for the crime. That person is tried in front of a judge and perhaps a jury to decide whether or not she actually committed the crime, and if so, what the punishment must be. It is very important to have a good defense attorney to plead the case of the accused. The defense attorney usually tries to prove that the client is innocent, or should at least have a very light punishment. Unfortunately, not all attorneys are honest, and some use dishonest ways to assure that their clients have no punishment at all. When this happens, the accused often pays the lawyer a very large sum of money. It is also true that sometimes the prosecuting attorney is not an honest person, and will try very hard to prove that an innocent person is guilty. This was the way it was in the time of Jesus. Some of the priests and pharisees wanted to get rid of Jesus, so they used every excuse they could find against Him. Read about one such instance in Luke 13:10-17. In this story what was Jesus doing? Who was there who needed special help? What did Jesus do? How did the man in charge of the synagogue react? How did Jesus defend the woman and His own action? (verses 15 and 16). Verse 17 (NIV) says, “When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.” While Jesus would never unnecessarily shame anyone, it was His responsibility to show people where they were doing wrong, where they had begun to follow man’s tradition instead of God’s merciful way.