March 24, 2021
John 17:9-10, “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.”
Here Jesus gets at an important theological point that is hotly debated: why does he pray for those who are in Christ and not for those who are outside the kingdom? When Jesus says he is ‘praying for them,’ he speaks as he role as a mediator between God and man. He’s not just praying for them the way we pray for people - he’s someone who has intimate knowledge of the will of God, as he is part of the Trinity himself. In that sense, he doesn’t need to pray like we pray. We see Jesus praying to the Father in his life in his humanity, as he took on weak flesh, and needs God the Father to sustain him. But here he prays on the behalf of believers to say, ‘I am their advocate. They can approach God the Father because they have me on their side (1 John 2:1).’ That is language of the mediator, and for those who do not trust the Lord, Jesus is not a mediator for them. He does not say, ‘God the Father, accept them based on my righteousness,’ because they are not going to be accepted by God as they don’t have faith in God. Jesus is not saying that he doesn’t care about those who are lost, or that he does not desire for them to be saved, because Scriptures like 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9 indicate the exact opposite. Jesus does desire that all would be saved. But here we see that some will be saved, those who have real faith in the Lord, and those are given to Jesus Christ who is the Savior.
This is one of those hard truths to wrestle with in God’s Word; take comfort in this reality that anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord in truth will be saved (Rom. 10). Also, that God is a god of mercy and offers his salvation as a free gift (Rom. 3:23-24). When we wonder how God can be both a God of justice/wrath and a God of mercy/love, we need not look any further than the cross itself. Here we see the wrath of God being poured out on Jesus, his only Son. He punishes sin right there at the cross; and because of that payment for sin, he now looks upon his people with an infinite mercy and receives them as if they are as righteous as Jesus himself. Wrestle with these verses, ask God why?! Those are good things to do - but in it, trust him, because his mercy has extended to you, despite your sin.
Prayer: Lord God, help me to trust in your word in these places where it is so hard to understand. Help me to glorify your name in knowing that I am saved, and not puff myself up. Help me, like Jesus, to desire salvation for all, and to then let people know of the salvation offered in Christ. Help me to be an obedient servant, like Jesus, and a person who radiates the joy you offer in knowing you and your beautiful world. Amen.
40 Days of Joy: Apparently sea otters hold hands while they are sleeping so that they don’t drift apart. That’s just delightful.
