While Jesus did many things in those last days before his crucifixion, our next three blogs will consider three important actions of Jesus.
Jesus sat at a last supper with his disciples. He encouraged them, ate with them, gave a foot-washing lesson on serving others, and declared that he was the only way, truth, and life to the Father. It’s like he felt the need for a final crash course in what was to come!
At the end of John, chapter 14, Jesus says, “Come now; let us leave.” It seems they walk from the upper room (likely very late at night) through Jerusalem and out the east gate. Perhaps they pause and sit as he talks of expectations, the work of the Holy Spirit, the grief they will have, but the joy that comes later. Seeing some vines reminds Jesus to pause and give the talk on “I am the vine, you are the branches.”
But the very last thing he did with his disciples together was to pray with them and for them. I don’t remember ever hearing a sermon or lesson on these prayers, but it is the last thing John gives us before the arrest in the garden. We find these prayers in the book of John, chapter 17.
Jesus prays for himself. John notices that Jesus looked toward heaven as he prayed. “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” He speaks of eternal life the Father gives through his son. He prays, “And now glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”
Jesus prays for his disciples. “Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name so that they may be one as we are one. May they have the full measure of joy within them. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them.”
Jesus prays for all believers. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for them who will believe in me through their message. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
Ponder how it would feel to be in those last moments with Jesus, hearing him pray for himself, the disciples, and future believers like us. To hear his entire prayer, read John 17:1-26
~ Joyce ~