Jesus Prays for Us

Devotional Reflection, Thursday, April 17. 2025

Maundy Thursday

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading in John’s Gospel

17:1After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

. . . .

11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

. . . .

20 ’I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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.

You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 956)

AM Psalm 102; PM Psalm 142, 143

Jer. 20:7-11; 1 Cor. 10:14-17, 11:27-32; John 17:1-11(12-26)

David's Reflections

On this Maundy Thursday, the Gospel reading is Jesus' prayer for his followers, recorded as uttered on the night of his betrayal.  This chapter weaves into it many of the key themes of John's Gospel.  What is especially touching is the thought that Jesus prayed for us on the last night of his life and that he continues to pray for us.  Verse 20 has Jesus praying for all who will believe through the word of his followers, and that includes you and me.

During years of pastoral ministry in Atlanta, Georgia, it was my privilege to serve as pastor to a rather remarkable elderly man named M. J., "Pop," Belew.  Pop was from northern Kentucky, a tall, slender quiet man with a gentle spirit and a dry wit.  Pop lived in the church’s retirement center adjacent to the church building complex.  He would entertain me in his efficiency apartment with a meal, coffee, and humor.

Pop's son, Wendell, was a Baptist minister who had devoted much of his life to service in the eastern Kentucky mountains, near the church I served fresh out of seminary (First Baptist, Williamsburg, KY).  Wendell and his wife were living in retirement in Atlanta and attending the church with Pop.

Pop's favorite verse was John 17:20, "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word."  When we visited, he always would ask me to read that verse and that verse only.  Then we would hold hands and pray.

Pop became seriously ill and was confined to a hospital in south Atlanta.  On the night before he died, I visited with him.  He again asked for that verse to be read and for prayers to be offered.  It finally occurred to me why that verse meant so much to him.  The thought that Jesus was praying for him in God’s presence at that moment gave him encouragement and comfort.

Today, on the day when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, his servant ministry continues.  He has taken his and our humanity into the presence of God.  There he continues to experience that humanity, he continues to share our human experience, its joys and its pains.   John 17 reminds us that Jesus prays for us now, just as he did on that first Maundy Thursday night.

Collect of the Day:  Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (BCP, 219)

Maundy Thursday

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (BCP, 274)

A Collect for Grace

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 100)

Of the Holy Eucharist  (Especially suitable for Thursdays)

God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a wonderful Sacrament has left us a memorial of his passion:  Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit

of his redemption; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (BCP, 252)

A Prayer for Light

Lighten our darkness, we beseech you, O Lord;  and by your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night;  for the love of your only Son, Jesus Christ,  Amen.  (BCP, 111)

A Collect for Mission

O God of all the nations of the earth: Remember the multitudes who have been created in your image but have not known the redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ; and grant that, by the prayers and labors of your holy Church, they may be brought to know and worship you as you have been revealed in your Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 257)

Daily Office Gospel, John 17:1-11 (12-26)

17:1After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

6 ’I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.

11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

20 ’I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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. 22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’

Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer