10th.: Jesus’ Intercessory Prayer
Before his arrest, Jesus prayed a long time. For the sake of space, the prayer won’t be reprinted.
But it can be found in the Gospel of John, chapter 17.
Jesus’ prayer can be outlined as:
1) Jesus mentions his approaching time of suffering.
2) He has done all his pre-crucifixion tasks.
a. Made God’s name known to the disciples
b. Let the disciples know that Jesus came from the Father.
c. Gave the Father’s word to the disciples.
3) Asks the Father to keep, or guard, those who were under him, because the world will hate the disciples. Keep the disciples in the world to testify of Jesus, but protect them from the seducing influences of the evil one. Include those who believe on Jesus by the word to be spoken by the disciples, in the centuries to com.
4) Give them unity; a unity that goes deeper than singleness of purpose. He asked for a unity that the world will recognize as distinctive. He asked that this unity be linked with the self-sacrificing, ‘more concerned for the other person’, type of love. This type of love is sometimes called ‘agape’ love, not the ‘eros’ or sensuous type of love.
We can echo Jesus by also requesting these things
“I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father.” (John 5:30b)