October 5, 2023
Interceding For Others
“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.” John 17:1-5 (NASB)
Several years ago, I stood at the bedside of a woman who was dying of pancreatic cancer. She was a church member. She was nearly incapacitated due to the pain medicines the nurses in the hospice facility were administering. I believe she could hear us. Several years ago, a doctor told me one of the last things to go is the ability to hear. While other faculties in the body begin to shut down, hearing is one of the last things to go. As I stood by her bed, I remember praying for her condition and the great pain she was in. I asked the Lord to be merciful in her time of need because the morphine didn’t seem to be working. With her eyes closed at the time, she moaned a few times as I prayed. I believe she heard me and agreed. She passed away about 12 hours later. I was honored to intercede in the last few hours. She was a nice Christian woman.
The prayer in these verses is known as Jesus’s High Priestly Prayer. Jesus was interceding for the disciples in a way they could hear. “Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, Father, the hour has come;” The hour had come. This was the climax in all human history. The mission Jesus was sent was nearly over. When the mission was accomplished, all of humanity would have an opportunity to be redeemed through the sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary. Dongell says there was so much more to this prayer too: “But the prayer serves broader purposes than this, since the intercessory requests themselves account only for a portion of the whole. Alongside intercession are petition (for himself), report (regarding the fact that He had completed His assigned work) and interpretation (elaborate explanations of the grounds and purposes for His requests). Additionally, Jesus intended the prayer to be “overheard” (see 7:13), allowing the disciples to rejoice not only in the effects of His prayer, but in their own awareness and understanding of the prayer itself. After all, the disciples were Jesus’ friends and therefore privy to “inside information” (see 15:15).”[1] As He prayed, the disciples received practical teaching which would be essential in the days ahead. This prayer was how to intercede on behalf of others. This was a different type compared to Jesus’s time away from the disciples when He went to meet with the Father in prayer alone. All around Him would be able to hear, listening in agreement with Jesus as He prayed. They heard the intimacy of Jesus with the Father.
As our daughter lay in bed for nearly ten days before she passed away, we all would speak loud enough for her to hear. I remember her husband whispering in her ear periodically, “I know you can hear us all, and I wish you would open your beautiful brown eyes and let us know.” We kept the mood as joyous as we could. We knew the joy she faced when she finally woke in heaven. What a beautiful site it must have been for her! Her mission was complete.
[1] Dongell, J. (1997). John: a Bible commentary in the Wesleyan tradition (p. 199). Wesleyan Publishing House.