Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-09-17
JESUS INTERCEDING.
DR.. JOHN HALLS NOTES ON THE
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

Never was a prayer like this offered on
earth. No wonder that the committee select
ing the lessons could not divide this chapter
Jesus had instructed the disciples as they
could understand him. His hour was at hand
He set them an example by calling upon God
in trouble He sets ali of us an example by
making his prayers scriptural. There is
not petition in it that has not its elements
in foregoing Scripture. To show this we have
taken all the Scripture readings from the Old
Testament, and we ask study for them. We
can thus employ New and Old The PRAYER
is exactly fitted to the circumstances and
while addressed to the Father, like all other
true scliptural prayer, it taught the disciples
and teaches us.
No teacher can put all the truth in it into a
lesson We can only take the outstanding
points and set them in the light of other
Scripture and of the situation. His attitude
is not stated. 1t is a small matter. His look
is described. eyes to heaven" His appeal is
to his Father" So "our Father is for us, in
his name.
l. Jesus prays for himself ". 10 on the
eve of his agony and death John xviii. H. The
hour is come" See John xii, %, 2s). The
clarifying of the Son by sustaining, vindcat-
ing. raising him from the dead is in order to
iut 1ulltl btlllS Blpl lllt'l ny ull lllliullCl-
able saved multitude knowing God and serv-
ing him. Christ, eye is ON his great mission
Matt. xvii, DID is the best illustration of
this. God is owned as sending the Son with
"power over all flesh See John iii. l4-1G
Daniel vii. ii says this. Christ says it in
Matt. Nj, - The great interest is in mons sal
walton. (See John vi, 3i-4O.J
God is sovereign in this matter, las many
as Thou hast given him.
The way to eternal life is by knowing God.
and this through the sent One. Paul taught
that Rom. X l4) and to the Corinthians
III Cor iv, c. Jesus taught it John xiv, 60.
Education, civilization, humanity, are all
good but they are not eternal life.
Mans chief end is to gorify God. So it was
with the Son of man ". Il. His meat John
iv, "a. was to do the Fathers will The way
to glorify Him was to finish the work He
gave to lie done" 1t is so with US also. See
John XIX. 30.i
V. s. Jesus speaks as mediator to the Father,
and asks the glory he had before creation.
Can this ue understood il he was a creaturei
"The second man is the Lord from heaven"
Il Cor XIV, ~. To read Heb. i, $40 is tho
best way to set forth the meaning of this
(See John i. L.
So far--the shortest part of the prayer
Jesus speaks for himself, Int cs mediator and
Gods righteous servant" lisa. xiii. Il. Now
his view widens. The intercessorv praver
proper begins. He pravs for the disciples
How they must have remembered this in
later DAYS! We now come to the second Sec
ton.
II. Jesus prays for the disciples Tvs. GEO.
The description of the disciples is. THE men
thou Eavest me out of the world jSee V. %
Soft is with all disciples. They are God
given and taken ont of the world He often
points thi, out John X. 20. Paul explains it in
Eph i. 4. ). They had learned from him that
he was. all through. doinp Gods will. spenkinr
Gods words. executing plans Tvs. :. s.. From
w. TOW. the imperfect tense is better than
the perfect The have" is left out. How He
taught this we saw in John xii. 40: xiv. 10. For
them He now pravs ". o.. not for the world
They now needed his intercession At later
time His PRAYER becomes more conprehen-
sive, as on the cross luke xiii 81 now He
is thinking of those whom God had given
Him. They are thine" they are mine: they
are an interest common to the Father and
the Son, and they are the means of glorify-
ing the Son. They showed by following
Him how worthy they thought Him, and
would show it later, as his apostles Can Jesus
saw this of us! Paul did this Phil i, 2W.
Titus and his associates did this III Cor. viii,
23l (See II Thess l. TO-
Their position as He had often told them,
would now be changed. He was not to he
longer in the world in visible form. but they
were to be in it. with all its dangers. tempta-
tions. opposition. He appeals again bv name
to the Father to keep them, in His name mot
through as His own, so that no enemy could
seize them. So Jesus had kept them bv teach
ing, influencing, directing and leading ". l2),
.l,,,