We are leaving a season of sentimentality. During this time, we considered the gentle and lowly state that the Savior was born into. I want to encourage you to not remove your gaze from Him. The nativity scene decoration in your home or church may have served its yearly purpose. It is ready to be boxed up for another year. Remember its significance. The true nativity was the first step in a redemptive plan of God. This plan was set forth from before the foundations of the world1.
Jesus Christ would move from holding Mary’s finger in the manger, to holding theological conversations in the temple as a 12-year-old2, to holding the burden of our sin for us on the cross3, all while holding all things together by the word of His power.4
The God-man was born, yes, but we must remember that He was born for a purpose. Jesus was born so as to die for sinners and rise again triumphant over sin and death. These are often thought of as the two bookends of His mission. There is, however, the reality that in between these events, Jesus lived for us. More specifically to my purpose now, He prayed for us.
In John 17 we have the longest inter-trinitarian communication in all of Scripture. In this prayer, Jesus prays to the Father for Himself, His present disciples, and His future disciples. Not only does this prayer give us a glimpse into the communication between the persons of the Godhead, but it also reveals to us the heart of Christ towards His people.
Before moving forward, can we take a second to ponder just how amazing it is that Christ prays for us? This shows us that we are not just objects to display His glory. Though we are not less than that, we have a place among Christ’s sheep,5 and that He loves us and cares for us as the Good Shepherd.6 What’s more, Jesus prays in perfect alignment with the will of the Father, so that what we hear Him pray for could rightly be taken as a promise.7
After praying for Himself, and His disciples that were presently with Him, Jesus turns His attention to His future disciples. He asks of the Father on our behalf:
- For unity (John 17:20-21). Not just any unity, but unity likened to that between the Father and the Son. By being engrafted into Christ,8 we have a unity not only with Him, but also with one another in Him.9
- To be with Him where He is (John 17:24a). All that believe in Christ will never see death but have eternal life.10 As a believer, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.11
- To see His glory (John 17:24b). At His first advent, Jesus took the form of a servant and veiled His glory in human flesh12. Yet, when we see Him again, we will see Him in the glory that He had in the beginning.13
I pray that these petitions of Jesus for you would be an encouragement. I pray that your eyes would be set upon Christ as we begin the new year. I pray that your year would be full of spiritual growth. May you receive blessings through communion with Christ….the God Who was born for you, Who died for you, Who was raised for you, and Who prayed for you.