Last Thursday we celebrated a little celebrated Holiday, Ascension Day. I believe it is a little celebrated holiday for the simple reason that there really is nothing you can sell to celebrate Ascension Day. Anyway, Ascension Day marks forty days since Jesus’ resurrection. Ascension Day is the day when Jesus gathered His disciples on the mountain and told them to wait in Jerusalem until He sent the Holy Spirit. Next Sunday will mark fifty days after Easter and we will celebrate the giving of what Jesus promised as we will celebrate Pentecost and the giving of the Holy Spirit.
Today is the seventh Sunday of Easter, Easter Day is counted as the first Sunday of Easter. In our first lesson for today the disciples had returned from the Mount called Olivet where they witnessed Jesus as He ascended and returned to heaven the place from which He had originally descended in order to become incarnate, to suffer and die for our sins. Again, before He ascended He tells His disciples that He will be sending the Holy Spirit. In our Gospel lesson, which is our text, Jesus prays for Himself and for His disciples. I believe He is also praying for us and let me assure you, I am praying for you as well. As we look at Jesus prayer, perhaps this might help us in our own prayer life. Much like the Lord’s Prayer which is a model prayer for us, so Jesus prayer in our text might also serve as such a model as we pray for ourselves and each other.
Getting to Jesus’ prayer. Jesus prays for Himself. He and the Father are one and so He prays that He and the Father might be given glory, but not as you and I think of glory. Jesus prayer is that they might be given glory as part of His death and resurrection. This might not make sense to us if we are thinking in human, earthly terms, but if we are thinking in sinner, saint terms, then we can see how Jesus’ death and resurrection gained glory. We give Him glory and praise because through His suffering and death the price for our sins has been paid. So, we give Him glory and in giving Him glory we give the Father glory.
As true God, Jesus had all authority, but as true man He did not always nor fully use that authority, in other words, Jesus did not heal everyone, raise everyone from the dead, cast out all demons and the like. Here, in our text, at this time, Jesus prays that He might be given full authority over all, as true man, so that He might suffer, die and rise. Notice that even as Jesus is praying for Himself He has us in mind. He is praying for Himself so that He might be able to save us.
After completing His Father’s will, that is after fulfilling His Father’s plan of salvation for us which He accomplished by leaving heaven and all the glory that was His, taking on human flesh and blood and living as one of us. After His suffering and death and after His resurrection, Jesus prays that when He ascends into heaven that He might be given the place in heaven He gave up to come down and save the world. He prays that He might again be seated at the right hand of the Father in glory. That is His prayer for Himself. Not a selfish prayer, rather a prayer for Himself for our salvation.
Now, Jesus turns His attention and prays for His disciples. Jesus prays that His disciples might know the Father. He and the Father are one, as He continues to tell us. He prays that through Him and through His signs, wonders, and miracles they might know that He is God and that He came to save them. These disciples are no different than us. We are skeptical people. We have a hard time believing in Jesus just like the disciples and so Jesus is praying for His disciples.
Jesus prays that they might believe, especially following His suffering, death and resurrection. Remember, Thomas would not believe even though the other disciples had seen Jesus and had testified to him. How often do we find ourselves, not believing? Actually, we would probably never call it not believing, instead we would say we have some doubt, but that is what doubt is, not believing. We doubt God’s promises of salvation. We doubt God’s ability to do great things, in spite of us. We doubt God’s forgiveness as we waller in our guilt over our sins, not letting go of our sins.
Jesus prays that His disciples might share their faith with others. Jesus spent three years teaching His disciples for a purpose, so that they might go out and share the message of salvation with others.
At the same time, Jesus prays that they might be protected as they share their faith with others. Jesus is concerned for their well being. He prays that they might have divine protection. He knows the trials and tribulations, the struggles of this world. He knows the danger to life which come about because they will be proclaiming a message which is not the message the world wants to hear.
And Jesus prays that they might have eternal life. This is not because of the good and great things they do or will be doing, but because of the faith which they have, which He has given to them. Faith which will move them to do the good works they are to be doing. Jesus prays for Himself and He prays for His disciples.
As Jesus prays for Himself and for His disciples, I believe that He is also praying for us. By faith in Jesus, we too are His followers, His disciples and so He is praying for us here today, May 24, 2020, the members of St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Westfield, and the guests that we have in divine service worshiping with us this morning. Jesus prays that, as we “see” Him in His Word, though the signs, wonders and miracles He performed, that we might believe. Jesus is who He says He is. He is the sinless, Son of God. He is God in flesh. He is the one promised by God to come and save the world. As we read His Word, as we hear His Word proclaimed He shows Himself to us so that we might believe.
Jesus prays that we might believe that He is the Christ, the Messiah. He also prays that we might believe in His perfect life, in His suffering, death and resurrection for us. We are sinful human beings. We daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness. One quick trip through the ten commandments will refresh our memories of our sins. Yet, we do not have to pay the price for our sins, because Jesus paid that price for us. He gave His life so that we might have life. And yet, Jesus did not save us for nothing, He saves us for a purpose, as we talked about a couple weeks ago.
Jesus prays for the purpose for which He saves us. He prays that we might share our faith with others. We are not to keep the faith, we are to give it away. We are to show forth the faith that is in our hearts, as we said last week, through our thoughts, our words and our actions. What are our thoughts, our words and our actions saying about what is in our hearts? Jesus prays that they might say that we have faith in Him. By the way, this is what we call living in our vocations, that is as we live lives of faith in whatever our vocation, our work, our job or career, we live our lives as living sacrifice always being ready to give a defense, an answer for the hope that we have in Jesus.
Jesus prays that we might be protected as we share our faith with others. He knows the world in which we live, He spent time here. He understands that the message we have to share is not the message the world wants to hear. He knows that many suffer trials and tribulations because of their faith and so He prays that even through such trials and tribulations we might not lose faith.
Jesus prays that we might have eternal life. He came to give His life so that we might have eternal life. Jesus prays that by God’s grace, through faith in Him, faith given by the Holy Spirit through the means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments, we might have eternal life with Him in heaven. And Jesus continues to pray for us today.
And let me assure you and reassure you that I pray for you. I pray that as the Lord has sent you His Holy Spirit, that He will continue to send you His Holy Spirit to work, to strengthen and keep you in faith. I pray that the Lord will send you His Holy Spirit to work in you a response of faith. That is that He will stir in you the desire to be about His business, doing the good works which He has for you to do here in this place. And as I pray for you I continue to ask that you pray for me. I ask that you pray that the Lord will give me the strength I need to resist temptation, to resist compromising the Gospel, and the strength to lead you forward, spreading the Gospel message, sharing the good news of salvation to this community, area, and city.
Finally, let me reassure you that God is with you and that He has and continues to send His Holy Spirit. This congregation is over 120 years old. This is not our church as some may believe. This church, this congregation was started before many of us were born and, should the Lord tarry and should the Lord allow, this church will continue on for as many years after us as the Lord should tarry. While we are alive, while we are this church and this congregation at this time, our work is to continue to be faithful, even unto death. I do say, our work, because as your pastor, while the Lord wills that I am in this place, I too am to be faithful. I am to be faithful in bringing you God’s Word, in rightly administering His sacraments, in forgiving and in retaining sins. Just as the Lord sent the Holy Spirit to His first apostles, so the Lord continues to send His Holy Spirit to us.
Next week we celebrate the first giving of the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost Sunday. As we prepare for that celebration, let me simply remind you, the reason I am a Lutheran, and a Missouri Synod Lutheran, and the difference between being a Lutheran and in particular a Missouri Synod Lutheran and the rest of the Christian denominations is this, our understanding and I believe our Biblical understanding of justification and sanctification. Our church body rightly believes, teaches and confesses that justification and sanctification both begin and end with Jesus. Listen to other people as they flounder around and move from church to church, from denomination to denomination, not sure of what they believe. If you listen closely you will often hear them focus on self, on what they believe they need to do for Jesus. Now, listen to what we believe, what you hear proclaimed here in this place, how we focus on Jesus. Jesus chose us. Jesus loved us. Jesus lived for us. Jesus took our sins. Jesus suffered for us. Jesus died for us. Jesus rose for us. Jesus ascended for us. Jesus is preparing a place for us. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to give, strengthen and keep us in faith. Jesus gives us the forgiveness He earned. Jesus gives us good works to do, but not only good works to do, but He does them, He works them through us to His glory. Jesus will return as He has promised to gather us and take us to be with Himself in heaven. And when we reach our true home in heaven, Jesus robes us with His robes of righteousness. It is all about Jesus, just Jesus. And He prays for us and He stirs in us to say, to God be the glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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