“…they have kept Your word. They have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.” John 17:6-8

What the Advocate Said

My boss at work is very gracious. No matter how much I mess up, when he reports in to the manager, he speaks only kind words about me. He tells him all the things I do well, how diligent I am, how organized. He says how much I help him, and how he couldn’t do as well as he does without me on his team.

No, I’m not patting myself on the back. I want you, dear reader, to think about what it means to have your superior thinking and saying good things about you.

When the time was nearing for Jesus to depart this earth, he had a few final things He wanted His disciples to hear. He formed these words into prayers to His Father—first for Himself, then for the disciples, then for all believers.

Look carefully at what He said to the Father about the disciples. He told God they’d received and kept His Word, had understood the Words were from the Father, had believed that Jesus had been sent by the Father, and knew Whose they were (His). They’d heard, received, believed, and known. This is what mattered. Of course, God already knew these things, but now the disciples knew that this is what the Master saw in them.

Jesus became their Advocate even before going to the Father. But He didn’t summarize their sins, mistakes, faults or failures. He didn’t tell their omissions, their lacking, their little faith, their fears. Rather, He lifted up before the Father their response to His Word, having received it by faith, and their belief in Him as the Son of God.

When a lawyer in a courtroom defends someone, he doesn’t tell what the person did wrong, but rather what he did right. He presents them in the best possible light. Here is Jesus, our Advocate, our Lawyer, saying what the disciples did right. The disciples were sinners, just as we are. Nevertheless, Jesus presented them to the Father on the basis of their belief; because of their belief, His blood would atone for their sins. What they did right was believe.

Jesus does not stand before the Father, accusing us. “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father…” (John 5:45). Rather, He stands boldly before the throne of grace, telling the Father that we are cleared of wrongdoing because we believe in Him, and that His own sacrifice and spilled blood atoned for our sins.

“Jesus, thank You for going to the Father on our behalf. We are deeply, eternally indebted to You.”