Day 34 of 40 Following the Footsteps of Jesus

Today is the 34th day of Lent, a 40 day season of spiritual reflection, repentance, and renewal.  During these 40 days we’ll explore the prayer life of Jesus, walking chronologically through every mention of Jesus’ prayer life and prayers in the Gospels.

Here is today’s prayer event: 50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven (Lk. 24:50-51 ESV).  This is the last appearance of Jesus in the timeline covered by the Gospels.  We’ll hear from Jesus again in Acts, Luke’s second volume.  But as far as the story told by the four Gospels, this is the last appearance, word, and prayer from Jesus.  And as he has done several times before, Jesus now does again—he blesses.  As Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father, he prays for the Father to bless those who remain behind. 

Imagine the scene.  Before your very eyes Jesus is ascending.  You are standing beneath him.  He looks at you.  Then he lifts his eyes to heaven and he prays for you.  What does he pray?  Does he pray, “Father, help ___ to get straightened out!”  “Father, help ___ to be worthy of the sacrifice I’ve just made.”  “Father, don’t you have anyone else but ___ to carry on the mission?”  I fear that for many of us, as we imagine this scene, the prayer we hear from Jesus’ lips is not a positive prayer.

But here is the truth: Jesus’ last prayer for you in the Gospels is a prayer of blessing.  His last action was to pray for the Father to bless you.  Not to curse you.  Not to put up with you.  Not to make due with you.  But to bless you. 

As he ascends to the Father, a reunion he has ached for, Jesus has every reason to only be thinking of himself, the Father, and the Spirit.  Yet his heart is still oriented toward us.  As much as he anticipates his own homecoming, he longs even more for blessings upon us.  So he prays.

Take some time today to thank God for the way he has answered Jesus’ final prayer.  Thank the Father for each blessing he has bestowed upon you.