First Lutheran Gospel Reading

John, chapter 17, verses 1 to 11

Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you; even as you gave him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given him, he will give eternal life.This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

“I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed. I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word. Now they know that all things whatever you have given me are from you, for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came forth from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them.

“I don`t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! What comfort it is to have someone tell us, "You are in my prayers"! We need and depend on family, friends, and other faithful members of Christ's Church as they keep us in their prayers and bring our names before the heavenly throne of grace. There is even greater comfort in knowing that Jesus not only kept us in His prayer, but that he also continues to pray for us. Through His Spirit, He has brought us to saving faith. All the details of our lives and faith are His concern, because He watches out for His own, the very ones He came to redeem with His own life-giving death on the cross of Calvary. He is praying for those whom the Father has given Him; He is praying for us. That gives us a new perspective when praying "The Lord's Prayer" and to all our prayers and hymns. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!