Christ Our Risen Lord and Intercessor

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

What does scripture mean when it says Jesus makes intercession for us? I believe this subject is so deep, majestic and beyond human understanding, I tremble even to address it. Biblical scholars hold various views on its meaning. But no book or commentary has satisfied my search. In fact, the more teaching I’ve read on the matter, the more confusing it all sounds.

Yet, through prayer and trust in the Holy Spirit's guidance, I’ve begun grasping just a little of this incredible subject. Praying very simply, "Lord, how does your intercession in heaven affect my life? Your word says you appear before the father on my behalf. What does this mean in my daily walk with you? I don't need to know what the great scholars have learned. Just show me a simple truth I can grasp and appropriate for my life."

The popular evangelical view of Christ's intercession is that Jesus returned to heaven to act as high priest on our behalf. There is no question about this. The Bible clearly states: "Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself” (Heb. 9:24)

I believe Jesus intercedes today to preserve his people, keeping us from sin and maintaining us in God’s love. He won't allow anything—any fear, any temporary fall, any accusation from Satan—to alienate us from the Father. In short, he prays for us in the same way he prayed for his disciple Peter: "that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:32).

Our savior is alive in glory right now. And he's both fully God and fully human, with hands, feet, eyes, hair. He also has the nail scars on his hands and feet, the wound in his side. He has never discarded his humanity; he's still a man in glory. And right now, our man in eternity is working to make sure we're never robbed of the peace he gave us when he left. He's ministering as our high priest, actively involved in keeping his body on earth full of his peace. And when he comes again, he  wants us to "be found of him in peace'' (2 Peter 3: 14).

May this Easter be a day that you can celebrate that He is risen and the peace poured out on us because of it.