Jesus’ Work of Intercession

April 9, 2023 (Easter) – Hebrews 7:25; Luke 22:31–34 – Jesus’ Work of Intercession

Last Sunday, which was Palm Sunday, I preached a sermon that addressed the question of why the multitude turned against Jesus during His passion week. On Palm Sunday, the multitude was singing Hosannas in the highest to Jesus. But before the week was over, they were crying out for His crucifixion. The reason they turned against Jesus was because He wasn’t living up to their expectations. They expected Him to be a political Messiah; they expected Him to make Israel a sovereign nation by attacking the Romans, but what Jesus actually did is attack the Jewish leaders. This was a huge discouragement and disappointment to the multitude, so they turned against Jesus.

What we learned from this is that people can correctly identify the person of Jesus while sorely mistaking the work of Jesus. That’s what the multitude did. They correctly identified Jesus as the Son of David, but they mistook the work He came to perform. Last Sunday, I pointed out some of the mistakes we make about the work we think Jesus should be performing in our lives today, and how these mistakes can lead to discouragement and disappointment with Jesus, even to the point of causing us to turn against Jesus.

Well, I thought it would be appropriate to follow that sermon up with another sermon on the topic of Jesus’ work, but this time, to focus on one of the most important works He is doing in our lives right now. Hebrews 7:25 tells us that He’s interceding for us. It says…

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Notice how this verse says that Jesus is “able to save to the uttermost.” This means that when Jesus saves a person, He saves them to the fullest possible degree. He saves them absolutely and completely. Some English Bible translations render this sentence clause as, “He is able to save forever.” While it’s true that Jesus saves His people forever, that’s not the best translation. The Greek word is pantĕlēs. This is a compound word that’s made from pas, which means “all, any, or every,” and tĕlŏs, which describes the completion of a goal, or attaining a specific end.

You may have heard of the apologetic called “the teleological argument.” It’s an argument for the existence of God from the tĕlŏs, or from the design, we observe in nature. The watchmaker argument is one of the best known teleological arguments. If you open a watch and observe all the intricate gears and springs and levers, you’ll quickly conclude that there must be watchmaker who designed and assembled the watch because this type of order and function doesn’t just happen by chance. The word tĕlŏs, therefore, has the connotation of successfully achieving a goal through deliberate order and intelligent design.

So when you take the word pas and combine it with tĕlŏs, you get a word that describes the deliberate and intelligent achievement of a goal to its fullest extent. That’s what Hebrews 7:25 is saying Jesus does for those who come to God through Him. The goal is their salvation, and He achieves that goal to its fullest extent.

This is why I say it’s not the best translation when an English Bible renders the sentence clause in Hebrews 7:25 as Jesus is able to save “forever.” “Forever” is a measurement of time, and this sentence clause is not talking about time; it’s talking about extent. It’s impressing upon us the truth that when Jesus saves us, He doesn’t save us partially, but He saves us to the fullest and most complete extent possible.

This is an important truth for us to know because when we go through those episodes of life where we backslide and fall into patterns of sin, we have the assurance that we cannot sin our way out of our salvation. This is not to say that it’s okay for us to sin and backslide. We need to repent of our sinning and backsliding, which means we need to confess and forsake our sinning and backsliding, but when I say that we cannot sin our way out of our salvation, I’m merely affirming that our salvation was never established in our own work to begin with. Our salvation was accomplished entirely by the work of Jesus, and it will continue to be accomplished by the work of Jesus.

Does it seem strange to you that I would say that our salvation will continue to be accomplished by the work of Jesus? I think every Christian is comfortable with speaking about our salvation having been accomplished by the work of Jesus when we speak about His work in the past tense. This is because we all know that Jesus completed His work of atonement when He was crucified upon the cross. When He said, “It is finished,” it was finished. But when I say that our salvation will continue to be accomplished by the work of Jesus, somebody might question whether I’m implying that the atoning work of Jesus was not completed at the cross. So let me take a moment to add some helpful clarification.

When we speak about the work that Jesus performs to accomplish our salvation, many people will only consider the work Jesus accomplished during His incarnate life upon this earth. For 33 years, His work was to be perfectly obedient to God’s will and law. Having successfully performed this work, Jesus earned the righteousness which is accepted by God the Father. This is the righteousness that’s imputed to those who believe upon Jesus by faith. So that was part of His work, and He completed that work.

In addition, Jesus also performed the work of atonement at the end of those 33 years. He died a substitutionary death upon the cross, making full satisfaction for the penalty of sin for all God’s elect. So not only do those who believe upon Jesus by faith have His perfect righteousness imputed to them, but their sins have been imputed to Jesus, and He successfully served as their substitute when He hung upon the cross and experienced the wrath of God being pour out upon Him as the punishment for their sins.

That’s the essence of the gospel. Christ Jesus lived for us, and He died for us. If you believe that His perfect life and atoning death is what accomplishes the forgiveness of your sins and clothes you with the perfect righteousness that’s accepted by God the Father, then you are amongst those that Hebrews 7:25 is describing as having come to the God through Jesus Christ. Believing that Jesus lived for you and died for you is the essence of the gospel that saves to the uttermost.

But understand, brothers and sisters, that there’s more to the gospel than Jesus having lived for you and died for you. He also rose for you and ever lives to make intercession for you. I think most of you are familiar with the statement Paul makes in 1 Corinthians 15 where he insists that if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, then we’re still in our sins. Have you ever wondered how Paul can say that? If everything necessary for our salvation was accomplished when Jesus died on the cross, then why does it matter whether He rose from the dead? Had He remained in the grave, wouldn’t He have already done everything He needed to do for our salvation? Hadn’t He already lived the perfect life of obedience? And hadn’t He already paid the penalty for our sins? If so, then why did He need to be resurrected in order for our sins to be forgiven?

Romans 4:25 gives us the answer to that question. Romans 4:25 says that Jesus “was delivered up because of our offenses,” referring to His crucifixion, “and was raised because of our justification,” referring to His resurrection. We understand this to be teaching us that the resurrection was God the Father’s formal approval that the redemption Jesus paid on the cross was accepted. Without the resurrection, there’s no formal approval from the Father that Jesus’ atonement for sin was accepted and complete.

If you think back to the details of the crucifixion, when Jesus died, there was no conclusive demonstration that God had accepted the sacrifice Jesus made. The Father’s voice didn’t come out of heaven, as it did on previous occasions, to affirm His approval of what Jesus had done. There were some notable events that happened at the death of Jesus. The earth shook. The temple veil was ripped in two. Graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and they were seen walking around Jerusalem. But none of these things are an irrefutable declaration that God had accepted the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus. Earthquakes have happened at other occasions. The ripping of the temple veil might be understood as God’s abandonment of the temple. And all those saints that were raised from the dead, they all died again! The fact that death was still “stinging” them leaves room for doubting whether the death of Christ truly accomplished the death of death. But all such doubts were put to rest when Jesus’ glorified body was raised from the dead, because His resurrection is the formal demonstration that God has accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as the perfect satisfaction for the sins of all the elect. So yes, the resurrection is an essential part of the gospel, as well. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then this would indicate that His atoning sacrifice was not accepted by God the Father and we would still be in our sins.

One of the reasons Christians get confused about the work of Jesus in salvation is because we don’t always give proper consideration to the full scope of salvation. We have a tendency to think of salvation only in terms of a sinner’s justification, so when we read the word “saved” in the Bible, we interpret this as a reference to that moment when a sinner is declared righteous by God. And this works in a lot of cases because the Bible often uses the word “saved” to refer to justification. For example, when the immoral woman washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and anointed them with fragrant oil, Jesus said to her, “Your faith has saved you.” When Jesus used the word “saved,” He was speaking about her justification. He was telling her that she has been declared righteous in the holy courtroom of God because of her faith in Jesus.

But don’t forget that sanctification and glorification are also part of salvation. Sometimes when the Bible speaks of salvation, it’s not referring to justification at all, but it’s referring to sanctification or glorification. Take 1 Corinthians 1:18 as an example…

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

To say that believers “are being saved” is referring to our sanctification. Every Christian who’s alive on this earth is being sanctified by the Lord. But sanctification is a process that will continue all the days of our earthly walk, so while we’re in the process of being sanctified, the Bible says that we’re “being saved.” To interpret this as a reference to justification will lead to a lot of confusion, but to understand that it’s referring to our sanctification reminds us that there’s a sense in which we can say that our salvation is still being accomplished.

Or consider how the word “saved” is used in Romans 5:10…

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

The future tense of the verb indicates that there’s something about our salvation that hasn’t been attained yet. The context makes it clear that this is referring to our glorification; it’s referring to the day described in Philippians 3:21 when Christ returns to resurrect our lowly bodies from the grave and transforms them to be conformed to His glorious body.

In showing that the Bible speaks of salvation in the past, present, and future tenses, I’m reminding you that salvation can refer only to justification, only to sanctification, only to glorification, or collectively to all the above. The context typically makes it clear how the Bible is using the term. So turning our attention back to Hebrews 7:25, we need to ask ourselves how the term is being used in this verse. When it says that Jesus is able to “save” to uttermost those who come to God through Him, is it referring to justification, sanctification, glorification, or all the above? I submit to you that it’s referring to all the above; it’s saying that if you have come to God through Jesus Christ, then Jesus has already justified you to the uttermost, He is presently sanctifying you to the uttermost, and He will glorify you to the uttermost at His second coming.

But I also think this verse is placing a emphasis on the work that Jesus is presently doing in your sanctification, because it goes on to say, “since He always lives to make intercession” for you. The Greek verb for “make intercession” is in the present tense, so this is describing work that Jesus is presently doing for those who have come to God through Him. In other words, this is part of the work that Jesus is doing right now to save you to the uttermost.

On this Easter morning, as we’re especially mindful that Jesus arose a victor from the dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign, we’re being encouraged to remember that Jesus is not just passively sitting in heaven, waiting for you to die so you can go to be where He is. No, Jesus is actively working to save you to the uttermost right now. He has already completed to the uttermost the work of atonement that’s necessary for your justification. He completed that nearly 2,000 years ago. Now, Jesus is actively engaged in the work of your sanctification, and He’s doing that by interceding for you at the heavenly throne of grace.

When the Scriptures say that Jesus is interceding for us, let’s make sure we understand what that means, as well as what it does not mean. It does not mean that God the Father is constantly getting angry with us and wants to punish us every time we sin, and Jesus needs to continually placate Him and calm Him down. That’s not consistent with the Bible’s teaching on justification. The Bible teaches that when God declares a sinner to be righteous, that’s a done deal. Jesus’ perfect righteousness is imputed to the sinner at the moment of his justification, and there’s nothing that will ever be able to change that person’s holy status in the eyes of God. So when Christians sin, that does not change our status with God. Which means, Jesus’ intercession does not take the form of changing the Father’s mind about us. Jesus does not need to continually appease the Father because of our sin. He doesn’t need to continually turn the Father’s wrath away from us. Nor does He need to keep reminding the Father that He’s already declared us to be righteous. Rather, Jesus’ intercession is about changing us. It’s how we receive the sanctifying grace that strengthens us, protects us, preserves us, and causes us to persevere in our faith.

Let me show you what I mean from the Scriptures. The intercession that Hebrews 7:25 is speaking about is what Jesus is performing in heaven, but we have a couple examples in the Bible where He interceded for people while He was still walking the earth. This is called His pre-resurrection intercession. One of His best known pre-resurrection intercessions has to do with Peter. Right after Jesus and His disciples had celebrated the Passover meal in the upper room, a dispute developed among the disciples about who should be considered the greatest. Jesus put an end to this dispute by explaining that Christians should not be focused on exercising power and authority over people, but their focus should be on humility. True greatness, according to Christ, is manifest in humble servanthood.

Then He went on to warn His disciples that they’re about to experience some very difficult challenges. All four of the gospel writers record this warning from Jesus, but some include details that the others don’t, so we best understand what transpired by reading from multiple gospels. Here’s what Matthew writes in chapter 26, beginning at verse 31…

31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

‘I will strike the Shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

Jesus knows that He’s about to be falsely accused, arrested, tried, scourged, beaten, and crucified, so being the good Shepherd that He is, He’s preparing His disciples for the difficulties they’re about to experience. Peter, being confident in himself, responds in prideful arrogance. Continuing in Matthew 26…

33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”

34 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”

Ironically, the disciples had just been arguing about which of them is the greatest, and Jesus had just corrected them, explaining that greatness is achieved by humility. That instruction obviously didn’t sink in for Peter because he just tried to elevate himself above all the other disciples when he said, “Even if all the other disciples are made to stumble, I will never be made stumble.” But even more concerning is that in his pride and self-confidence, Peter is trying to correct Jesus! He said, “No, Jesus, You’re wrong. I’m not going to stumble tonight. I’m so committed to following You that I’ll die before I deny You!”

Luke provides a little more detail about this part of the conversation, and this is where we see Jesus’ faithful and compassionate pre-resurrection intercession for Peter. When Peter said that he was sure he wouldn’t stumble, Luke tells us that Jesus explained to Peter some of the spiritual dynamics that were going on; spiritual dynamics that Peter had absolutely no awareness of. Luke 22, beginning at verse 31…

31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

Jesus is not only providing Peter with a glimpse of what was happening in the unseen realm of spiritual warfare, but He’s giving us that same glimpse, as well. Brothers and sisters, there are powers of darkness and spiritual hosts of wickedness that are constantly waging war against the followers of Christ. For reasons we don’t fully understand, God does not forbid these forces of evil from assailing us. What the Scriptures tell us is that the Lord providentially works in every situation for the good of His people and the glory of His name. So He establishes limits and then permits our enemy to afflict us within those limits. This is what God did with Job, and this is what He does with all of His children. In Peter’s case, God permitted Satan to sift him like wheat. And despite Peter’s self-confident assertion that he would not denying his Lord, Peter stumbled. He failed to withstand the temptations that Satan set before him. He denied Jesus three times. As Proverbs 16:18 says…

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

In reading of Peter’s denial, however. don’t miss the intercession of Jesus in all of this. Don’t miss the fact that Jesus knew Peter was going to stumble before it ever happened. He didn’t just know that Satan was going to afflict Peter, but He also knew how Peter would respond to this affliction. Jesus knew that Peter was going to stumble. So what did Jesus do with this knowledge? He prayed for Peter. And notice what He prayed. He didn’t pray what you and I would probably be inclined to pray, that Satan would be kept away from Peter so Peter wouldn’t be tempted to stumble. Rather, Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail.

This is essentially the same thing that Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17. John 17 is another well-known passage where we see an explicit example of Jesus’ pre-resurrection intercession. As He’s praying for all the people the Father has elected unto salvation and given to Jesus, He prays in verse 15…

I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

Understand that when Jesus prays that the Father will “keep them from the evil one,” He’s not asking that Christians will be isolated and insulated from all the trials and afflictions of our adversary, but that the Father will protect and preserve us from abandoning our faith. Jesus is praying that the Father will protect and preserve us from departing from Him and falling into the possession of Satan.

Notice how possession is part of the request that Satan made concerning Peter. In Luke 22:31, Jesus says, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.” So Satan wasn’t just requesting permission from God to wreak havoc on Peter, he was asking for possession of Peter. Satan wanted God to release His grip on Peter so Satan could possess him and destroy him. So Jesus interceded for Peter. He prayed to God the Father that Peter’s faith would not fail, which is just another way of saying that Jesus prayed to the Father that He would keep Peter from the evil one.

And Jesus knows that the Father will keep Peter’s faith from failing, so He goes on to tell Peter that after he stumbles, he will return to Christ. Peter will not stumble and fall into the possession of Satan, but he’ll stumble and return to Christ. And when he does return, his job will be to strengthen his brethren. Listen again to Luke 22:32. Jesus said to Peter…

But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

All of this came true. Peter stumbled; he denied the Lord three times before the rooster crowed. In his shame and sorrow, he had decided to leave his ministry work and return to fishing. But Jesus pursued Peter. He pursued him all the way to his fishing boat where Jesus tenderly restored Peter to the work of feeding His sheep. And if you’ve ever read 1 Peter, then you know that this letter is a tremendous encouragement to believers who are undergoing trials and difficulties. Peter did indeed strengthen his brethren who needed strengthening, and he continues to strengthen believers today through his writing and example.

But the strength is not in Peter, it’s in our Lord Jesus Christ who labors so faithfully in His intercession. We, like Peter, can be self-confident in our ability to withstand our adversary. And we, like Peter, stumble in our Christian walk. But our faith will never fail, brothers and sisters, and we will never fall from the grace of God into the possession of Satan because Jesus always lives to make intercession for us. He entreats the Father to give His sustaining grace to us, and the Father always does so because He loves us. The Father wants to bless us because He loves us. But equally encouraging is the fact that the Father loves His Son and is always in agreement with His Son. So if His Son is interceding for us, then we can know with certainty that the Father is happy to do whatever His Son asks Him to do because the Father loves His Son.

But understand who the recipients of Jesus’ intercession are. He does not save to the uttermost everybody in the world, but only those who come to God through Him. Listen again to our sermon text from Hebrews 7:25…

25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

So brothers and sisters, understand very clearly that your faith will never fail and you will never fall out of the grace of God and into the possession of Satan. This is not because you have the resolve to remain faithful to Jesus, but because Jesus has the resolve to remain faithful to you. He is able to save to the uttermost. He has saved you to the uttermost, He will save you to the uttermost, and He is saving you to the uttermost as He ever lives to intercession for you.

As I read from Romans 8, beginning at verse 31, listen to the apostle Paul describe the security we have in Christ Jesus. And listen closely as he describes the benefits we receive from the intercessory work of Jesus…

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Why was Paul so persuaded that nothing can separate Christians from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? Because Jesus saves to the uttermost, and He ever lives to make intercession for those who come to the God through Him.

Why then, should you who have come to God through Him be persuaded that nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? Because Jesus saves to the uttermost. And He ever lives to make intercession for you. Halleluiah! All glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.