What is Jesus Doing Now? The Intercession of Christ
The following is a seminar taught at my church, Refuge Church Franklin. You can download the full document, which includes the full seminar manuscript and all additional attachments, or you can listen to the seminar audio, which is around an hour long.
The Intercession of Christ Full Document
Introduction
Throughout history, Christian theologians have spoken of “the threefold offices of Christ.” Jesus is Prophet, Priest, and King. God established these three offices in Israel to bring God’s word, mediate God’s forgiveness, and rule over God’s people. Various men held these offices at various times and in various ways, but Jesus fulfilled each office finally and completely. He is the perfect prophet who brings the final word from God (Heb. 1:1). He is the perfect priest who makes the final sacrifice for sins (Heb. 10:1-18). He is the perfect king who rules justly over the world (Eph. 1:20-21).
That could be a whole seminar in itself. Perhaps one day we will do that, but today we are zooming in on one of those offices of Christ, his priesthood, and specifically, on one aspect of that office, his intercession.
Why this topic? I believe this is a tragically underemphasized doctrine, and without it, our spiritual lives are diminished. Let me explain by way of experience.
You’ve been a Christian and have been for some time. Maybe a year. Maybe decades. You know at the deepest level of your being that Christ has saved you obedient life and substitutionary death and has granted you new life in his resurrection. You know the doctrine of justification and believe it. But you still have besetting sins that you can’t seem to beat. Guilt plagues you. Assurance wanes. You want so desperately to be as free as you know you should be in your relationship with God, but you feel shame weighing you down and keeping you from him. You pray, but your prayers feel listless. You seek God, but you feel as if you can’t open the door to his presence. When you consider your spiritual life, anxiety is more prominent than joy. You are discouraged and disappointed, and though you know God is for you, sometimes it’s hard to really feel it.
How do you get out of that rut? How do you remain encouraged through all life’s valleys? How do you experience the freedom and joy that you know is available? The intercession of Christ answers those questions and relieves those worries. You are not a burden to him. You are a joy to him (Heb. 12:1). When you can’t pray for yourself, your Savior prays for you. When you feel as if the door is shut, Christ is there to keep it open. His heart beats with love, mercy, and grace for you, and it never wanes even for a second. When you feel dead inside, the living Christ is in heaven, intervening for you.
Understanding Christ’s intercessory work assures you that your ongoing sin is mediated and forgiven. It proclaims that your relationship with God is still open and safe despite your ongoing sins and failures. It reminds you that all the benefits Christ purchased on the cross are still yours by grace. It comforts you that Christ continues his priestly work by bringing you into God’s presence. Deep reality with God is possible through Christ’s intercession.
In our day, there has been a good and right emphasis on the justifying work of Christ on the cross. I am thankful for that. But the gospel does not end with death; it extends to new life in the resurrection, to the ascension of Jesus into heaven, to his current intercession on our behalf, and all the way to his glorious return, where he will renew and restore this broken world. If we stop only at the cross, we will have truncated the gospel to our great detriment.
Hear what the Puritan pastor John Bunyan said about this very thing.
“Since Christ is an intercessor, I infer that believers should not rest at the cross for comfort. Justification they should look for there; but being justified by his blood, they should ascend up after him to the throne. At the cross you will see him in his sorrows and humiliations, in his tears and blood; but follow him to where he is now, and then you shall see him in his robes, in his priestly robes, and with his golden girdle about his breast. Then you shall see him wearing the breastplate of judgment, and with all your names written upon his heart. Then you shall perceive, that the whole family in heaven and earth is named by him, and how he prevails with God, the Father of mercies, for you. Stand still a while, and listen, yea, enter with boldness into the holiest, and see your Jesus, as he now appears in the presence of God for you; what work he makes against the devil, and sin, and death, and hell, for you. Ah, it is brave, following Jesus Christ to the holiest! The veil is rent, you may see with open face, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord.”[1]
Let’s heed Bunyan’s exhortation, and let’s follow Christ into the holiest to behold the glory of the Lord.
To that end, I aim to do the following in this seminar.
1. Define Christ’s intercession.
2. Explain the benefits of Christ’s intercession.
3. Apply the doctrine of Christ’s intercession so that we may rejoice in the truth.
The Definition of Christ’s Intercession
Let’s being with a definition. To intercede means to intervene on someone’s behalf. It means to entreat, to argue, to plead, and to stand in the gap between two people with a view of reconciliation. Intercession is prayer but of a specific kind. There is much that is mysterious about Jesus’s intercession, but the Bible and great theologians of church history offer some clarity. Referring to Christ’s intercession, the Puritan John Owen defined it as “his continual appearance for us in the presence of God, by virtue of his office as the ‘high priest over the house of God,’ representing the efficacy of his oblation [offering], accompanied with tender care, love, and desires for the welfare, supply, deliverance, and salvation of the church.”[2]
In other words, by virtue of his all-sufficient atoning sacrifice, Jesus stands at the Father's right hand in heaven, working and praying for us to accomplish our full salvation.
That begs a question. Is our salvation not already secured upon the cross of Christ? Why do we need hi intercession? It is true that Jesus’s death on the cross accomplished our full salvation and justification. All in Christ have been finally and fully set right with God because Jesus paid the penalty for all his people’s sins, satisfying God's wrath for those sins in his death. Our legal standing with God is settled. We are righteous in Christ. The work is finished (John 19:30). Thus, the author of Hebrews says, “When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12). Sitting down represents the completion of the work. All in Christ are “perfected for all time” (Heb. 10:14), meaning no further sacrifice is necessary. We can rest assured that, by grace, God will preserve us forever.
But the finished work of Christ on the cross does not mean Jesus no longer works on our behalf. Yes, the work of justification is finished, but the work of sanctification is ongoing, and the work of glorification is still out ahead. Though assured, they are still “in progress,” as it were, and Jesus’s intercession is God’s means by which they come to completion.
We can think of it this way. The cross is the point of our justification, and his intercession is the ongoing application of that justification. Jesus’s intercession is one of God’s means of preserving us. As the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck said, “In his intercession his sacrifice continues to be operative and effective.”[3] Reformer John Calvin said, “He appears before God for the purpose of exercising towards us the power and efficacy of his sacrifice. . .. Christ's intercession is the continual application of his death to our salvation."[4]
Christ’s intercession applies the benefits of justification moment by moment, assuring us that our ongoing sins are also forgiven by the cross and inviting us to draw near to God to enjoy continual fellowship with him.
What does this heavenly intercession look like? John Owen summarized it in three parts. First, there is the presentation of his person before the throne of God on our behalf (Heb. 9:24). Second, there is the representation of his death, offering, and sacrifice for us as “a lamb standing as though it had been slain” (Rev. 5:6). Third, there is the intercession in prayer “interceding for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom 8:26).[5]
Through this presentation, representation, and intercession, the blood of Jesus effectually and continually cleanses his people from all their sins and secures their place in the kingdom of God. Rather than hoping we are okay in the end, the intercession of Christ assures us that we will be because Christ is working to complete our salvation (Phil. 1:6).
Inside the heavenly courtroom, “the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as our forerunner,” as the book of Hebrews calls it (Heb. 6:19-20), Jesus stands in God’s presence praying for us. Gavin Ortlund helpfully summarizes the content of these prayers.
Christ prays for the salvation of the elect (Psalm 2:8), their furtherance in grace (John 17:11, 17, I John 2:1), their protection from all evil (John 17:15) and especially the accusations of Satan and devils (Zechariah 3:1-5), the restoration of broken communion between them and God (Micah 6:7, Isaiah 54:7-8), their deliverance from temptation (Hebrews 2:18), their daily cleansing and washing from the polluting effects of sin (I John 2:1, Hebrews 10:22), the sanctification and cleansing of their service and worship (Ephesians 2:18, Hebrews 4:14-16), the giving of the Spirit to them (John 14:16), their unity (John 17:20-22), and their final perseverance unto glory (Luke 22:32, John 17:24, Romans 5:10, Hebrews 7:25).[6]
We can find the doctrine throughout the biblical storyline. It is prefigured in the Old Testament in the offerings of sacrifices and incense in the Holy Place inside the temple (Exod. 30:1-10) and on the Day of Atonement detailed in Leviticus 16. Zechariah 3:1-5 tells of the vision of the high priest standing between the Lord who defends and Satan who accuses. We find shadows in Micah 7:9, “I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.” And we hear the prophecy in Isaiah 53:12, “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
In the New Testament, we see the doctrine portrayed during Christ’s earthly ministry in his high priestly prayer in John 17. It is found in Christ’s defense of Peter through prayer in Luke 22:32, where Jesus says Satan demanded to have him but that Jesus had prayed for him that his faith may not fail. We even see it as Jesus hangs on the cross. He intercedes for those crucifying him, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). We hear it boldly stated in Romans 8:34. “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” The Apostle John speaks of our advocate in 1 John 2:1-2. “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
In the book of Hebrews, we find the most extensive exposition of the priesthood of Christ, which paves the foundation for his intercession. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 6:19-20 says, “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”[7] And in the clearest of all verses, Hebrews 7:25 says, “Consequently, 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.”
Not only does Hebrews show us the priesthood of Christ more clearly than any other book, but it is also the only place we find explicit reference to Jesus as a “high priest.” The role was reserved in the Old Testament for men appointed by God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins on behalf of men in relation to God (Heb 5:2). As Commentator Peter O’Brien says, “The title is applied to him ten times: he is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek (5:6, 10; 6:20), who accomplished atonement (2:17; 7:26; 8:1), and the ‘high priest of the good things that are now already here’ (9:11). Jesus is the ‘great priest over the house of God’ whom believers ‘have’ (10:21), the one whom ‘we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest’ (3:1), and who has ascended into heaven (4:14-15).”[8]
The priesthood of Christ is wonderfully true for all of God’s people, but—this is important to note—it is only for God’s people. He does not intercede for everyone in the world. He intercedes only for the elect. The old Scottish Presbyterian minister William Symington said, “As it is unreasonable to suppose Christ to make atonement for any for whom he does not intercede, so it were preposterous to allege that he intercedes for any but those for whose sins he has atoned, or that the matter of his intercession includes anything not purchased with his blood.”[9] He intercedes not only for those who currently believe but for the full number of the elect, including those who do not yet believe but one day will. As Jesus prayed in his High Priestly Prayer, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word” (John 17:20).
The intercession of risen Christ means the elect of God have the highest priestly office serving them in an endless ministry in heaven. Theologian Robert Letham summarizes the doctrine well. “Christ, having ascended to the right hand of the Father, blesses his church by his presence in heaven and by the Holy Spirit who he has sent. In this he sends us help when we need it, conveys the blessings of the covenant, and enables us to experience and enjoy union and communion with him.”[10]
The bottom line is this. Jesus is not sitting idly in heaven, twiddling his thumbs between the resurrection and his return. He is working for his people as their Great High Priest upon his throne of grace (Heb. 4:16), advocating on their behalf and applying his atonement to their lives, moment by moment. His intercession proves how personal his love is and how tender and warm his heart is for his people. Jesus is not aloof from the reality of life. He is not unconcerned or uninvolved. He is in heaven right now, interceding on behalf of his people, and his glorious intercession grants several benefits. Let’s consider those now.
The Benefits of Christ’s Intercession
For this point, we will go deeper into one verse, Hebrews 7:25. Aside from being one of my favorite verses in my favorite book in all the Bible, this single verse more fully explains the character of Jesus’s current priestly ministry than any other.
The book of Hebrews is 13 chapters long, but the heart of the book is found in chapters 7-10. The heart of the heart of the book is found in Hebrews 7:25. It’s the main point the author wants to make. “Consequently, 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.”
Let’s consider the verse, phrase by phrase, starting with the very first word, “Consequently.” In the preceding verses, the author argues for the validity of Jesus’s priesthood. His priesthood is a better one because it is an endless one. Jesus meets all priestly qualifications and has perfectly fulfilled all the requirements. Therefore, he can perfectly fulfill the office. (For more on this, see Appendix B- Jesus’s Qualifications as Our High Priest.) The logic is this: “because Jesus is the perfect high priest, he can do the following.”
“He is able to save to the uttermost.”
The first thing he can do is save to the uttermost. Our default assumption is that Christ is able to save some, but not all, and sometimes, but not always. Charles Spurgeon gets up in our faces at this point in his comments on 1 Timothy 1:15, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Spurgeon said, “Between that word ‘save’ and the next word ‘sinners,’ there is no adjective. It does not say, ‘penitent sinners,’ ‘awakened sinners,’ ‘sensible sinners,’ ‘grieving sinners,’ or ‘alarmed sinners.’ No, it only says, ‘sinners.’”[11]
We must never put an adjective where God does not. We all have really good arguments as to why Christ cannot save us, but who are we to argue with God? He is able to save to the uttermost.
The verb translated “to be able” is related to the powerful activity of Christ. The author of Hebrews uses the same word when referring to Jesus’s ability to help (Heb. 2:18) and his ability to sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb. 4:15). Commentator Peter O’Brien puts it bluntly, “Nowhere in Hebrews does the verb denote a mere possibility.”[12] As William Lane says, this truth is a certainty at each critical moment in our lives.[13] In other words, there is never a time when our need meets his capacity. His capacity always exceeds our needs. Super-exceeds, in fact. There is no deficiency in Jesus. He is able to do everything he desires to do. If he desires to save, nothing in this world can stop him. He can even overcome our unbelief (Eph. 2:8-9).
His salvation isn’t reserved only for “back then” when we were good enough to deserve it. That day never existed, and it never will. We are never deserving of his salvation, and that’s perfect, because he only saves the undeserving. If you have trusted Christ before but find yourself now barely hanging on to faith, he can save you still. He will save you still if he ever saved you then. He doesn’t save sometimes, but all the time, not to the least, but to the uttermost.
“To the uttermost” is only one word in the original Greek, indicating completeness. Another translation is “at all times.” It’s an expansive word. The more our need, the more Christ’s ability to save. There is not a time, a season, nor a second of our life that Jesus is not able to save us. As we have seen, his power is limitless.
In his book Gentle and Lowly, Dane Ortlund explains, “We are to-the-uttermost sinners. We need a to-the-uttermost Savior.”[14] He continues, “‘To the uttermost’ in Hebrews 7:25 means: God’s forgiving, redeeming, restoring touch reaches down into the darkest crevices of our souls, those places where we are most ashamed, most defeated. More than this: those crevices of sin are themselves the places where Christ loves us the most. His heart willingly goes there. His heart is most strongly drawn there. He knows us to the uttermost, and he saves us to the uttermost, because his heart is drawn out to us to the uttermost. We cannot sin our way out of his tender care.”[15]
This means that what Corrie Ten Boom wrote is true. “There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still.” Christ’s perfect priesthood and effectual intercession assures us he is able to save to the uttermost. We never need to fear falling through the cracks. He’s in heaven holding us tight.
“Those who draw near to God through him.”
The second thing he can do is bring us near to God. This call first comes to us in Hebrews in 4:16 where the author calls us to draw near to the throne of grace with confidence. Commentator William Lane points out that Greek indicates coming to God with a “bold frankness.” [16] Because of Christ’s intercession, we can bring our real selves and our real needs to God. We have what the Old Testament saints did not. Under the New Covenant, we have immediate access to God and the freedom to draw near to his throne continually because we have a perfect and eternal high priest who made a perfect and eternal sacrifice who forever stands in the presence of God and holds the door open for us to come inside. We don’t need to work ourselves up to come to him. We don’t need to feel a certain amount of guilt first. We don’t need to bring an offering or a sacrifice. All the work is done. Our only part is to come through the door of Christ.
Without Christ’s intercession, drawing near to God would be a frightful thing. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). But because Christ was consumed on the cross for our sin, that holy fire burns for our benefit. His light shines in the darkness, welcoming us inside.
From time to time, we may still wonder if we can come. Haven’t we compromised our access by our behavior? But the truth is that because we are in Christ, we are already in, obedient or not, because Christ’s obedience is our entry. Our drawing near is a present reality that Jesus is simply asking us to recognize. In the Old Testament, the high priest would carry the names of Israel into the presence of God upon his breastplate, identifying himself with the people (Ex. 28:10-12). Jesus does this now. Everyone whose name is written in the lamb’s book of life (Rev. 13:8) enters upon his breastplate into the Holy of Holies, in the throne room of heaven. We can draw near to God only through Christ, our high priest. There is no other way. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
We have unrestricted an unhindered access to God. He will always welcome us. Tim Keller once said, “The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access.”[17] Because of Christ’s intercession, we can come whenever we need God. Christ’s intercession grants us this access, assuring us we will never find a locked door or empty room.
“Since he always lives to make intercession for them.”
The key phrase is right here—he lives to make intercession. Everything depends on the resurrection. If Jesus died on the cross but did not rise, our faith is futile, and we are still in our sins (1 Cor. 15:17). But Christ did rise! And in his resurrection, he is bringing many to glory (Heb. 2:10). All that we’ve seen before this phrase is predicated on the fact that Jesus lives. Because he lives, all that we’ve seen so far is real and available to all his people.
The Scottish pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said, “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” But even more than prayer, William Symington points out that the grammar of the phrase “includes every form of acting on behalf of another…it denotes mediating in every possible way in which the interests of another can be promoted.”[18] Our sin—past, present, and future—is covered because there is a high priest in heaven praying for us, and he will never leave. There’s never a moment when we want to come to God that he will not be there to receive us because of Christ. He lives for this. Think about that. Christ lives to intercede for you!
Whatever you face, how can you not endure with him on your side? Whatever you feel, how can you not look up to his throne of grace and find the help you need to press on?
Now having seen some benefits of this doctrine, let’s consider a few applications.
The Applications of Christ’s Intercession
Whenever we approach a biblical doctrine, there is the temptation to leave it in the realm of the intellectual. But it is good to consider how the doctrine applies to our lives. How does what we now know of Christ’s intercession make our hearts burn within us (Luke 24:32)?
Here I will make three primary applications.
Application 1: Christ’s intercession reveals his heart for sinners.
Though we are justified in Christ for all time when we first trust his saving work, we do not stop sinning until the age to come when we are with him in glory. Though we know the truth of God’s love, we still have low thoughts of God, disbelieving, mistrusting, and doubting him. Though we know we are saved by Christ’s works, not our own, we still fall into the old ruts of our self-salvation projects, denying the power of his life, death, and resurrection. Our fleshly desires may wane, but they do not disappear, and we continue to use God’s good gifts for improper ends. Who will save us from this body of death (Rom. 7:24)? Jesus, by the power of his intercession.
John Bunyan wrote a whole book about Hebrews 7:25 called Christ a Complete Savior. In that book, he said,
“Many there be that begin with grace, and end with works, and think that this is the only way…But to be saved and brought to glory, to be carried through this dangerous world, from my first moving after Christ, until I set my foot within the gates of paradise, this is the work of my mediator, of my high priest and intercessor. It is he that fetches us again when we are run away; it is he that lifts us up when the devil and sin have thrown us down; it is he that quickens us when we grow cold; it is he that comforts us when we despair; it is he that obtains fresh pardon when we have contracted sin; and he that purges our consciences when they are loaded with guilt…We are saved by Christ; brought to glory by Christ; and all our works are no otherways made acceptable to God, but by the person and personal excellences and works of Christ.”
Christ’s intercession is there to save us from the sin that remains. God did not expect us to become perfect and never again struggle after our conversion. He factored our ongoing fight against sin into the equation and provided the intercession of Christ to preserve and encourage us. That shows how great the love of Christ is for us sinners. Why would he intercede if he didn’t care? Why would we be continually on his mind if he did not love us? As a parent loves a child and thinks about them all the time, so Christ considers us and always thinks of our good. He prays on our behalf. He takes our prayers and rewords them on the way up (Rom. 8:26). He holds the door to heaven open for us. He is more committed to our salvation than we are, and he will never leave us nor forsake us. He cares for us and sends affirmations of that care to us by his Spirit.
The Puritan Thomas Goodwin spoke of 1 Corinthians 2:16, where Paul says we have the “mind of Christ.” You know those moments when you sense a word from the Lord, a verse of Scripture, or a reminder of the love of Christ, those seemingly invasive thoughts that remind you of God’s love? Those are Spirit-sent thoughts from Jesus himself. They are sent down from heaven to tell us what he is thinking of us and for us in that very moment. Those are holy moments with our interceding Christ.
And in those moments when we find ourselves weak and wounded because of sin, when we long for a holy moment but fear we have blown it big-time, we must remember his intercession. We must remember his heart for sinners and sufferers, how gentle and careful he is with us. Hear Goodwin describe it.
“Your very sins move him to pity more than to anger…For he suffers with us under our infirmities, and by infirmities are meant sins, as well as other miseries…Christ takes part with you, and is so far from being provoked against you, as all his anger is turned upon your sin to ruin it; yes, his pity is increased the more towards you, even as the heart of a father is to a child that has some loathsome disease, or as one is to a member of his body that has leprosy, he hates not the member, for it is his flesh, but the disease and that provokes him to pity the part affected more. What shall not make for us, when our sins, that are both against Christ and us, shall be turned as motives to him to pity us the more?
The greater the misery is, the more is the pity when the party is beloved. Now of all miseries, sin is the greatest; and while you look at it as such, Christ will look upon it as such also. And he, loving your persons, and hating only the sin, his hatred shall all fall, and that only upon the sin, to free you of it by its ruin and destruction, but his affections shall be the more drawn out to you; and this as much when you lie under sin as under any other affliction. Therefore fear not.”[19]
In other words, our sins do not turn Jesus away from us but rather move him closer to us. As a parent moves closer to a hurting child, so Christ moves closer to his hurting people. Maybe that’s hard to believe, but hasn’t Jesus always proven to be the “friend of sinners” (Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:34)? After all, Jesus knows what it is like down here. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things” (Heb 2:14). We always fear our sins will eventually ruin our relationship with him, but his intercession is the very proof that they can’t.
Application 2: Christ’s intercession confirms that we have an advocate.
Intercession is what Christ does for us always, for our general needs. Advocacy is a particular form of intercession he takes up for specific needs.
Luke 22:31-32 shows on way this advocacy works. Jesus told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” He was talking about the events leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion. Peter would deny Christ three times, and perhaps Satan wanted that sin to destroy Peter. But Jesus interceded and then told Peter about it to preserve his faith through the trial.
Consider how amazing this is. Before Peter knew about the trial, Jesus covered it in prayer. Before Peter felt the heat from the fire, Jesus prepared the extinguisher. Before Peter fell into sin, Jesus secured his salvation. Peter’s Advocate stood for him even though Peter wouldn’t later return the favor in Jesus’s hour of need.
1 John 2:1 says that if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. It doesn’t say we will have an advocate, but that we have an advocate. We don’t need to dial him up like we would our lawyer. He’s there when we need him, even before we know we need him, defending us against the Accuser, applying his blood to our sins, giving us his righteousness. He’s a skillful advocate who knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our needs before we do. He is a holy advocate. He is a tender advocate. He is a sympathetic advocate. In every sense of the word, he is a perfect advocate.
In his Systematic Theology, theologian Louis Berkhof said, “It is a consoling thought that Christ is praying for us, even when we are negligent in our prayer life; that He is presenting to the Father those spiritual needs which were not present to our minds and which we often neglect to include in our prayers; and that He prays for our protection against the dangers of which we are not even conscious, and against the enemies which threaten us, though we do not notice it. He is praying that our faith may not cease, and that we may come out victoriously in the end.”[20]
Jesus is the advocate we need. By grace, we are “hidden in him” (Col. 3:3). He is more than our representative, he is our very life. If our life is hidden with Christ, and Christ lives forever, how can we not also live forever with him? Who can defeat his advocacy? Who can overcome the argument of his atonement? No one. Not you. Not Satan. Not even God himself, for it is his very grace that brought it about.
The doctrine of intercession shows us how deeply God is committed to us. He’s on our side. Always.
Application 3: Christ’s intercession assures us that we can always count on grace.
The classical definition of grace is “unmerited favor.” With Christ our Savior serving as our Intercessor, the grace of God is multiplied to us many times over. We have the saving grace of Christ and the preserving grace of Christ. We have the justifying grace of Christ and the sanctifying grace of Christ. We have the grace of newness of life and the grace of ongoing cleansing. Whatever we may face in this life, with Christ as our intercessor, we can always count on grace.
Hebrews 4:14-16 says we have a great high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. He calls us to draw near to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Here’s what that means. It means that if Jesus is really a savior—if he’s not just a mentor, or a self-help guru, or an example, or merely a judge—he will get down in the mess with you, and save you in time of need because he perfectly understands you. He will be there in the grossness, the desperation, the deepest temptation, and the hottest part of the battle. He is not just a counselor for the after-party when the high has worn off. He’s the hero running into the war with you. His throne is not the bench to approach to pay your fine after the infraction. His throne is a wartime walkie-talkie that you can call when the battle gets hot. He’s there for the dark moments, the moments you don’t even like to think about. He’s there with grace and mercy. He is not aloof to your real life and your real sins. He intercedes for the real you, not the Instagram you.
Jesus was tempted as we are but remains perfect and sinless, so he knows the real cost of holiness. And his perfection is not a platform from which he condemns but from which he saves. As Romans 8:34 says, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” When you are caught in the act, he won’t condemn you because he was condemned for you, and his intercession assures that you will remain safe in the arms of his salvation.
Your most desperate need when you are most desperate is not to get your act together so you can come to him; it is to simply come to him and receive from his deep wells of grace upon grace. Only then will you even have a chance at getting your act together.
The applications of this doctrine are endless. For more, see Appendix A, but we must stop now. So, we will end with this. With Jesus Christ, you are never without an intercessor that can overcome all your enemies, comfort all your wounds, advocate for all your needs, and sustain even the greatest of doubts and the weakest moments of faith. You are covered in his grace from this day until the very last. You may feel weak and unworthy, but take heart, Jesus lives for you!
[1] John Bunyan, The Intercession of Christ, pages 27-28.
[2] John Owen, Exposition of Hebrews, vol. 5, page 541.
[3] Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 3, page 478.
[4] John Calvin, Commentary on 1 John, page 243.
[5] John Owen,, Exposition of Hebrews, vol. 5, page 541.
[6] Gavin Ortlund, https://gavinortlund.com/2010/04/26/christs-intercession-exposition/
[7] I owe much of these references to Gavin Ortlund, https://gavinortlund.com/2010/04/26/christs-intercession-exposition/
[8] Peter T. O’Brien, God has Spoken in His Son: A Biblical Theology of Hebrews, page 66.
[9] William Symington, The Atonements & Intercession of Jesus Christ, page 269.
[10] Robert Letham, “The Intercessory Work of Christ,” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/intercessory-work-christ/.
[11] C. H. Spurgeon, “None but Jesus,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 7, page 108.
[12] Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Hebrews, page 274.
[13] William Lane, Hebrews: A Call to Commitment, page 111.
[14] Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly, page 82.
[15] Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly, page 83.
[16] William Lane, Hebrews: A Call to Commitment, page 77.
[17] Tim Keller, https://twitter.com/timkellernyc/status/569890726349307904?lang=en
[18] William Symington, The Atonement & Intercession of Jesus Christ, page 262.
[19] Thomas Goodwin, The Heart of Christ, pages 155-156.
[20] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, page 403.
