Coyote vs. Acme, in theatres now, is a live-action comedy centred on the Looney Tunes cartoon characters.

It is based on a 1990 New Yorker magazine article in which Wile E. Coyote hires an attorney to sue the Acme Corporation for selling him allegedly faulty products that constantly backfire—and usually blow up in his face—in his attempt to catch the Road Runner.

Kevin Avery (Will Forte) takes on the coyote’s case, but they are the underdogs against the huge firm representing the Acme Corporation. The lead attorney, Buddy Crane (John Cena), taunts and intimidates Kevin, especially since Kevin is a former employee of his law firm.

Both attorneys try to advocate for their client. In one of Kevin’s television ads, he says, “Have you been horribly injured by a product made by the Acme Corporation? It’s not your fault. There’s probably someone to blame.”

But in court, Buddy accuses Wile E. Coyote of being reckless. “We all know who’s responsible and all of his injuries are self-inflicted,” he says.

Who will the judge believe? Will he determine that Wile E. Coyote didn’t properly operate his rocket skates, causing them to explode? Or will he decide that the Acme Corporation has been selling defective products and needs to compensate their customers?

After decades of failure, will something finally break in the coyote’s favour?

Because of Jesus, we can have a perfect, unblemished record in God’s eyes. DIANE STARK

Our Advocate

“There are two sides to every story, and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.” This familiar saying is probably a true statement in most disagreements. An attorney’s job is to bring forth the facts that support his client’s version of the truth and downplay the facts that don’t help his client. An attorney’s job is to advocate for his client to the judge or the jury.

The Bible says that Jesus acts as our advocate. 1 John 2:1 says, “I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”

We know that every single one of us has sinned, and that sin causes us to be separated from God the Father (see Romans 3:23). If we were to stand trial for our sin, we would all be found guilty. Unlike with most earthly disputes, there aren’t two sides to this story. God created us, so He gets to make the rules. And we all are guilty of breaking God’s laws, which means our separation from God is self-inflicted. There’s no one else to blame. No attorney on earth could get us acquitted. There is no “version of the truth” in this case. We’re guilty. Dead in our sin.

That should’ve been case closed. But God loves us too much for that. He sent His own Son, Jesus, to die in our place, so that our sins could be forgiven and our slate could be wiped clean. Because of Jesus, we can have a perfect, unblemished record in God’s eyes. All we have to do is ask Him to be our Saviour and He will become our defence attorney and intercede with His Father on our behalf. His righteousness becomes our righteousness. When we invite Jesus into our lives, God finds us “not guilty” of our sin, and we can spend eternity in heaven.

Jesus is our advocate. He’s the Way, the Truth and the Life, and the only path we have to be acquitted of our sin and become right before God. Thankfully, it’s a path that is available to every human being. We just have to accept it.

Photos: Courtesy of Warner Bros./Ketchup Entertainment