For those also who believe in Me through their word

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.”

In Jeremiah 1:5 God says:  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”  Of course it was not only Jeremiah that God knew, He knew each and every one of us before we were born. Two thousand years ago, before we were born, knowing everything about us; all of our sins and shortcomings, Jesus said from the cross, “Father forgive them they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)  Jesus sacrificed His life that one time, for every sin, past, present and future. 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.  Jesus intercedes for us now, at the right hand of the Father, but it is His act of intercession, His sacrifice on the cross two thousand years ago, before we were born, which justifies us in the sight of God. Today’s text though, captures Jesus prayer of intercession, the prayer He prayed for you and I two thousand years ago, even before we were born. In Luke 22:40-45 it tells of Jesus prayer that night before He was arrested. It says:  When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,  saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow…   According to this and the other gospel accounts, Jesus prayer that night lasted for hours. Jesus though did not spend that entire time asking the Father if there was another way. It wasn’t the crucifixion which He faced that caused Him to pray so fervantly that He sweat drops of blood. Jesus was born for that very purpose. That night, before He was crucified, Jesus prayed for His disciples.  The text says He prayed:  “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.”    Jesus continued praying:  “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. 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. 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 knew the difficulties that His disciples would face, the persecution they would come to know and Jesus interceded for them.

Here’s the best part. Two thousand years ago, Jesus also prayed for us. It was not only for those He knew that night, but for all of us that He knew even before we were born. He prayed:  “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; (that’s you and I)  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.  The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, (us) that they may be one, just as We are one;  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. Father, I desire that they (we) 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. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 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.”   Two thousand years ago, before we were born, Jesus knew us and prayed for us. He prayed fervently, so fervently that He shed His blood in prayer interceding for us, even before He shed His blood on the cross to redeem us.

Hebrews 4:14-16 says:  Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.   We can ask with confidence because two thousand years ago, before we were born, Jesus knew everything we would face and our every need. On the cross in John 19:30, He said:  “It is finished.”  In the garden, Jesus already knew all that we would face and He prayed fervantly for us. By His shed blood on the cross and by the shed blood of His fervant prayers for us, we have confidence that there is grace and mercy in our time of need. It has been prayed for and It is finished!

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; that You knew me even before I was born; that You prayed for me and died for me, so that I could be with You and have all that I need.  Amen.