Good Friday (yesterdays post)

Jesus had eaten his last meal before Roman soldiers would be coming to take Him away to crucify Him.

 His disciples would abandon him before long. The one that sold him out, Judas Iscariot would be bringing those soldiers to Jesus, as He predicted during that last supper, and the reason was they were going to arrest Him. 

And the rest of the day is history.

Jesus had prayed in the garden, asking the Father if his crucifixion could be stopped, and yet knowing that it couldn't be because He was to complete God's will for saving the worlds sin, thus redeeming those that would ask Him for forgiveness. 

He would be arrested, stand in front of Pontes Pilate, found guilty and then hang on the cross for that sin.

 

But did you know that Jesus prayed for his disciples and also us as believers during that time as well?

John 17:6-20 picks up that prayer, as well. 

6 “I have revealed you[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of[b] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by[c] that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you[e] known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

💔💔💔

Jesus prayed for not just his friends that had been with him those years, but for all people that would become believers as time went on. 

Sometimes it seems that some days are dark. When life doesn't seem fair. When we get hurt or someone, we love gets hurt. When divorce happens. When a child gets into drugs. When a loved one dies. When fill in the blank happens.

But the other day, I was looking at a similar picture of Jesus (like the one above), praying in the garden, I remembered that scripture: "My prayer is not just for them (the disciples) alone, but for them that will believe in me...."

that means all that came or will still come to believe in Jesus-He is praying for us!

What a wonderful gift!!!! Not only did Jesus died on the cross for us, but He is praying for us still! 

And so, the next time that I am going through something hard, I will remember this painting of Jesus in the garden, not only praying for himself, but me and others, as well!

Well, at this point in our Easter week, Jesus has been hung on a cross and life as his friends, family and all of Jerusalem knew that His life came to an end.

They didn't know, or understand, it was not the end, but the very beginning and many of their lives would be changed forever! Amen!

Thanks for coming by my friends! Have a blessed day in Jesus' name!!