Jesus prayed for your protection from a world that hates you!

Picture yourself stuck in a ditch on a dark stormy night. Picture yourself sitting at the hospital watching a loved one suffer in their last moments. Picture yourself calling someone for advice about friends, college, finances, kids, marriage, faith, etc. Picture the person you would call if you needed to get bailed out of jail. When you are in a tough spot that you cannot get out of on your own, there is that one person you know you would call. Whether it is your mom or dad, friend you have had since grade school or college roommate, sibling or grandparent, mentor, business partner, or whoever else, they are the one that will stick with you and protect you even when the odds are against you. One of the worst feelings is when your one person does not show up to protect you.

Stephen was a man who was stuck in a situation beyond his control. Stephen was one of seven men chosen to help the twelve apostles with the business of the church in Jerusalem. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly spread the news about Jesus. His bold confession brought persecution from those who rejected Jesus, and they brought him to stand trial before the Jewish court called the Sanhedrin. While on trial, Stephen reviewed the history of Israel from Abraham to Moses citing the miracles of God to save his people and the rejection of God by Israel. He then told them that they had done the same thing by rejecting Jesus. And we read in Acts 7, 54 “When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.” And we do not hear of anyone coming to help him.

Instead, we hear, 55 “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’” Stephen had one friend left to turn to, but as he called out to Jesus, we read, 57 “At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.” Those who hated Jesus, also hated Stephen. And the same hatred that crucified Jesus, now threw Stephen outside of Jerusalem and threw stones at him. And before he died, 59 … “Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep.” Stephen turned to the one he knew to call on when he had no one else, no one to stick up or protect him, no one who would plead his case even when everyone else was against him.

Stephen called out to God, but he died. You may not face an angry mob with rocks ready to kill you for your faith in Jesus, but you have had moments where you wanted God to protect you. You have had moments where the last thing you wanted to do was pray for God to forgive the ones constantly assaulting you with hatred. When you hear how Stephen died, it sounds like God abandoned him. Stephen was standing his ground and would not deny his faith in Jesus, but the God he would not turn from, the God who created the universe, who sustains all things, who loves without ceasing, who never sleeps, the God of angel armies allowed him to die. You have and may even be in a moment where you are wondering why God is the one you are to call on in the worst situations, when time after time he has not appeared in your life to save you. God has not appeared on the side of the road to lift your car back on the road, he has not appeared in the hospital to cure your dying loved one, he has not appeared to give you advice about life, nor do you think he would appear to bail you out of jail.

Believers and unbelievers encounter the same troubles in life whether divorce, debt, bankruptcy, cheating, gossip, addiction, etc. but for the believer, the real battle is to continue to call out to God. The temptation you face is to feel abandoned by God so that you betray God when your life gets difficult and trust only in worldly solutions to your problems. Going back to Stephen, the temptation for Stephen when on trial was to betray God and deny Jesus as the Savior to save his life, but he continued to call out to God for protection because he knew Jesus was betrayed to save him.

The night Jesus was betrayed, he prayed for your protection. In John 17, we hear the last words recorded before Jesus walked with his disciples to the garden where he knew Judas was coming to betray him with a mob of soldiers, to arrest him, to put him on trial and to sentence him to death on the cross. These words from John 17, are referred to as Jesus’ ‘High Priestly Prayer.’ His prayer was for his disciples, and for all his followers. Jesus acted as our high priest; the priest who made the sacrifice for sins to save the people from God’s anger over their sins. He prayed, 11 … “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” Jesus called out to God the Father, the one who protects and chose his people to be saved out of this broken, sinful world of death. He continued to pray, 14 “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” You are hated by the world because you are a citizen of heaven and love God, while the world loves sin and hates God. Yet, for all the world’s hatred of believers, Jesus said, 15 “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” This portion of Jesus prayer gets at the heart of your feelings of abandonment. Jesus protects you in your most difficult moments when it feels like he has abandoned you to suffer because he has saved you from the one who hates you most, the evil one, who threatens to break your relationship with Jesus so that you die without faith and spend eternity in hell.

Jesus prayed for you to remain set apart from the world as his brother or sister waiting to go to heaven. You need protection from the devil and the world that hates you for your faith in Jesus. The night Jesus was betrayed, he knew his disciples would face a horrible test of faith to hold on to Jesus, when the world, the devil and their own sinful nature told them they were foolish for holding on to Jesus and they should abandon him to save their lives. Jesus knows you also face the test to hold him to his promise of eternal life, forgiveness, and love when turning from him would allow you to get through life without suffering.

When the devil would have you give up on God because the sinful world attacks you, making live hard, Jesus pulls your eyes to heaven to see a better life waiting for you. Jesus is the guarantee of the better life as we hear in Hebrews 7, 24 “but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 …He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.” In the Old Testament, priests would offer sacrifices over and over for their sins and the people’s sins, but those sacrifices did not actually save them. They were all foreshadowing one permanent priest and sacrifice. Jesus was betrayed by the world and put to death for our sins. He then returned to life giving the proof that you will be raised to life and that you have the credit of his righteous, sinless life. His actions as priest and sacrifice mean you will live forever in heaven with God separated from hardship, frustration, or loss of any kind. You will live in heaven fulfilled, content, at peace and joyful forever.

Jesus provided you with the direct line of communication with him when you feel abandoned. Jesus prayed, 17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” God’s Word serves as the reminder that he was betrayed and abandoned by God on the cross to save you. His Word opens your eyes to see that when the world tells you God has betrayed you and abandoned you because life is hard, your answer is to call out even more to God. When you are tired, weak, lonely, and defeated, Jesus is your answer. Do not find your fulfillment from the approval of the world because the world hates God and this world ends in death, and hell. Jesus prayed, 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” Jesus stands in heaven waiting for you. Your joy in life comes from knowing you will join Jesus there one day.

When you wonder why Jesus has not already taken you to heaven, he answered your question in John 17. As Jesus prayed for you the night he was betrayed, he said, 18 “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” Jesus came into the world to save us. Jesus keeps you in the world to tell others about him. Even Stephen as he was dying knew his Savior was taking him to heaven, and he prayed for those who hated him. You know what it is like to be in trouble, to feel abandoned and feel like you only have one person left to call. You know the joy of having someone to call when you are in a tough spot you cannot get out of. You will never be abandoned by your Savior Jesus who prayed for your protection from a world that hates you. Amen.