As Michael Reeves writes, “God the Son came from his Father, became one of us, died our death - and all to bring us back with him to be before his Father like the jewels on the heart of the high priest” ( Delighting in the Trinity, 74). Like Israel’s high priest of old, who would enter the temple wearing stones upon his chest and shoulders that represented the people (Exodus 28:15–30), so Jesus carries us and our concerns into the very heart of heaven. Either way, how intercession works matters less than what intercession is: at every moment, the living Jesus applies the power of his past sacrifice for our present help.
Does Jesus literally pray to the Father, vocally asking for our deliverance, forgiveness, protection? Some theologians (like Stephen Charnock, 1628–1680) think so, while others (like John Calvin) argue that he intercedes metaphorically, his glorified scars (representing his death) serving as our eternal plea. We may wonder, however, what his intercession really means. Our great Moses upon the mountain, our true Aaron within the veil, Christ ever keeps us on his heart. Though exalted in glory, the head has not forgotten his body, nor the bridegroom his bride, nor the older brother his little siblings. He “is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). “Our great Moses upon the mountain, our true Aaron within the veil, Christ ever keeps us on his heart.” But now, between the two trumpet blasts of his resurrection and return, we can struggle to speak of him in the present tense. We know him as a future Savior who will come again for us. We know Jesus as a past Savior who lived, died, and rose for us. Our Praying Saviorįor many, a mist surrounds the present ministry of our exalted Lord.
In a world of ever-present danger, we have an ever-praying Savior. “Take an estimate of all our sins, all our temptations, all our difficulties, all our fears, and all our backslidings of every kind, still the word ‘uttermost’ goes beyond them all.” The word carries the idea of both fullness and finality: Jesus is able to save completely, and he is able to save forever.Īnd the reason he is able to save his people so fully, so completely, is because “he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). “That word ‘uttermost’ includes all that can be said,” John Newton once wrote. They ought to be carved on every tree in the forest of the soul. Airplanes ought to write them daily in our spiritual sky. Some phrases carry such strong comfort, such enduring consolation, that they ought to be engraved on the walls of the heart. He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
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