Jesus’ Prayer for Us
The 17th Chapter of John’s Gospel, a portion of which we read last Sunday (John 17:20-26), is called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. In this prayer, which naturally falls into three parts, (1) Jesus’ prayer for Himself now that His work on Earth has been accomplished (17:1-5); (2) Jesus’ prayer for His disciples as they carry on His work (17:6-19); and (3) Jesus’ prayer for us, the Church universal (17:20-26). A closer look at this third part of Jesus’ prayer reveals that He asks God to care for us by giving us protection, purpose and power.
In His prayer for protection, Jesus asks God to love and care for His followers after his Ascension as He has protected them while He has been with them. Even though this prayer is addressed to God, it is also addressed to the disciples as they listen to Jesus speak to God on their behalf. Yet, this prayer is also addressed to us, to remind us that we are loved by a God who cares for us and who is not going to abandon us in difficult times. St. Paul reiterated this in his powerful letter to the Romans: “I am absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” (Romans 8:38-39, "The Message," Eugene H. Peterson)
Then Jesus prayed that His followers would have a purpose, an ambition to proclaim the message that He is alive, that God’s Kingdom has broken into the world and that everything is different. When we allow God’s Spirit to touch us — when we hear our Lord’s prayer for purpose, we can begin to understand that we can do great things for God.
Finally, Jesus prayed that His disciples — and us His followers today — would be given God’s power to do God’s work. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are given that power to be in the world doing the Kingdom work — worshipping, teaching, visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger — being the people of God. St. Augustine once said, “Without God we cannot, without us God will not.” Nowhere is that truer than in the awesome responsibility and power that the Ascension of Jesus bestows upon us. We have protection and God’s love, we have purpose in what we are to do as Christ’s followers, and we have power to do great things in His Name. Go in Peace to be the people of God.
