John 17:20-26

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

 “Jesus prays for you and for me …”

The New Testament records multiple occasions when Jesus prayed. Today’s reading was the last recorded prayer of his earthly life and took place during the most difficult phase in his life, i.e. just before he was arrested by the Roman soldiers to be crucified. 

Yet, that last prayer turned out to be an intercessory one ─ he prayed for all those who believe in him ─ so both you and I are counted in! Jesus prayed that we will be united in believing that he is the only way to God, that he will be in us and that we will be with him one day. That prayer conveys the essence of what Christianity is and what being a Christian is all about.

Jesus’ crucifixion was the height of intercession in that he took our sins upon himself and gave us his righteousness in return. That made the way for us to be reconciled to God. But Jesus didn’t stop there ─ he is praying beside us, in us and for us so that we will slowly, steadily and gradually reflect his glory until the day we join him in heaven. 

Jesus’ praying for us matters. It matters because it gives us the assurance that we have a high priest who constantly intercedes and mediates on our behalf with God. At this point, let us remind ourselves that Jesus is the only mediator between God and humans ─ it is not the angels and it is not the saints. There is no one else and we don’t need anyone else.

Both Jesus’ crucifixion and his intercession are acts of the pure grace of God ─ we didn’t do anything to earn this grace. God did it because he loves us and wants to have a personal relationship with each one of us. He would have done it even if we had been the only human being in the whole world. Let us thank God for his great mercy and be encouraged and empowered by it.