Faithful Steward Ministries and FSM Women's Outreach

The Exalted Position of Our Intercessor

Jesus Christ says to His Father in John 17:11, “I come to thee.” Of this, Burgess writes, “He goeth to the Father, and there will be a potent favorite in the court of heaven for them.” Jesus’ promise is for the comfort of His disciples and for believers today. Burgess refers to the shadow of Christ in Joseph, writing, “Our Saviour comforts their troubled hearts with this, that he was going to the Father, not merely for his own glory and honour, but also for their good—even as Joseph was advanced in Pharaoh’s court for the good of his father and his brethren as for his own glory.” But Burgess also notes that Christ came to the Father through the death of the cross. The lowest humiliation must precede the highest exaltation so that divine justice is satisfied and men are redeemed.
Burgess then says of Christ’s ascension into heaven, “Herein is implied, that state of glory and honour he shall have in heaven.… Now he was no more to be like a servant but to be made the Prince of glory.… In this is the whole treasury of a Christian. The fountain of all our comfort is in this, that Christ is gone to the Father.” Burgess lists some of these comforts of the ascended Christ:

1) “Hereby his Holy Spirit is given in, more plentifully and abundantly (John 7:39).”

2) “A second benefit of Christ’s going to the Father is enabling us with all holy and heavenly gifts, either in a sanctifying way or a ministerial way (John 14:12; Eph. 4:8–12).”

3) “The third benefit of Christ going to the Father is to prepare a place for his children (John 14:3).”

4) “Christ goeth to the Father, to be an Advocate and plead our cause, 1 John 2. Heb. 7. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Christ is not so affected with that glory and honour God hath put upon him, that he should forget the meanest [or least] of his children. He dealeth not as Pharaoh’s butler that forgot poor Joseph, when he was promoted. No, when we are not and cannot think or mind ourselves, yet Christ is commending our estate to the Father. So we have this glorious friend speaking for us in the court of heaven, whensoever any accusation is brought against us.”

5) “Christ’s departure from the Father is not an eternal departure. He does not leave us forever, but he will come again and take us to the Father also.”

Joel R. Beeke, “Anthony Burgess on Christ’s Prayer for Us,” in Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer, ed. Brian G. Najapfour (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2011), 92–93.