But, what about His prayer?

John 17 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, ² even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. ³ This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴ I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵ Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

⁶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷ Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; ⁸ for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. ⁹ I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; ¹⁰ and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹ I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. ¹² While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

¹³ But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

²⁰ “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

²² The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³ I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. ²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

²⁵ “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; ²⁶ and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Romans 8:34 says:  Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.   Hebrews 7:25 says:  He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.   Jesus is, right now, at the right hand of the Father ever interceding for us. We need to understand what that really means. 1 Peter 3:18 says:  For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.    Jesus died for our sins, once for all. On the cross He said:  “It is finished.” (John 19:30) It is so much more than Jesus only praying for us to the Father. It is His act of intercession, the finished work of the cross, His dying for our sins, that is ever before the Father; so that when God sees us, He sees us through the finished work of the cross, the intercession of Christ that is ever before Him.

Jesus did though and does continue to intercede for us in prayer also. Today’s text from John 17 is part of Christ’s eternal intercession for us.  The text begins saying:   Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”     The first thing on the heart and in the mind of Jesus when He prayed for us is that we would know God and Christ who was sent that they (we) may have eternal life.   “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16)    If we would have the heart and mind of Jesus, that too would be our first and foremost prayer, that all would come to know and believe in the true God and Jesus Christ His Son, who died to intercede for their sin.

Jesus continuing intercession says:  “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”   Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, but His ever continuing intercession Has more for those who believe. Jesus prayed that we would be unified, one as He and God are one. Jesus continues to draw the line between believers and the world. He prays:  “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”     Jesus prays that we would be sanctified, which means to be: set apart as or declared holy; freed from sin; purified.   The finished work of the cross, Jesus act of intercession for us causes us to be seen by God as holy, pure, free from sin. But to continue in that, to walk it out in our lives we need to walk in truth. We need to be sanctified through His word. The word of God is eternal and unchanging. We are purified by knowing and believing all that He said about us and for us, believing and receiving both His promises and His commandments.  

Jesus prayer of intercession continues saying:   “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”    Jesus commanded and commissioned us as His disciples to continue in the fulfillment of His prayer. Matthew 28:18-20 says:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”   Mark 16:15-16 says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”    We are to play a vital part in the fulfillment of the ongoing prayer of Jesus. He has completed the work of His eternal act of intercession which ever stands by the Father; that all who believe would be freed from sin. His continuing prayer is not for those who believe alone, but for those who believe in Him through the word of His disciples. 

We pray to God and Jesus for answers to our prayers, and he is faithful to give us what we ask. But, what about His prayer?    He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.     Will we be those who answer the prayer, the intercession of Jesus, that the world may believe… 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for the finished work of the cross, the eternal act of intercession by which we are freed from sin. May I indeed be continually sanctified in and by the truth of Your word. May I live as evidence of Your truth and be the fulfillment of Your continuing prayer of intercession, that the world may know You.   Amen.