Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans8:34
The ascended Jesus, who has taken our humanity into the Godhead with Him, prays for us!
What an awesome thought! God is not distant and disconnected from our struggles. His Son, Jesus, who has shared in our humanity, who has lived in our world, experienced our frailty, and faced our temptations now plays the role of Intercessor. He prays for us.
The letter to Hebrews puts it like this: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin." (4:15)
He has been tired, hungry, betrayed and abandoned.
He has been tempted, tested, lonely and overwhelmed.
He has suffered pain, gross injustice and cruel death.
There is a moment in the garden of Gethsemane which powerfully expresses the extent to which Jesus has entered our pain and heartache: As He approaches the cross, He asks His disciples to pray with Him - listen to what He says: "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." (Mark14:34) (And yet in that moment of stress and sorrow, John 17 shows us that Jesus made time to pray for us!!)
No matter what heartache and trouble we find ourselves in, we can be certain that Jesus connects to us because He entered the heart of the storm of human brokenness.
His prayers for us assure us that He hears us when we pray and so the Hebrews writer says: "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Heb4:16)
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
