Three Applications of Christ's Intercession
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.”[1]
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.
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.”[2]
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.”[3]
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.
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 Owen, Exposition of Hebrews, vol. 5, page 541.
[2] Thomas Goodwin, The Heart of Christ, pages 155-156.
[3] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, page 403.
