What is Jesus doing now?

Over the years my boys have perfected the art of procrastination at bedtime.

They know, without any shadow of doubt, that a carefully crafted question about God will guarantee extra time chatting with their dad, long after ‘lights out’. Last night’s attempt to derail bedtime was the question: ‘What is Jesus doing now?’ Chewing over the answer kept me awake long after my son had fallen asleep.

By default, I think, I imagine Jesus in a holding pattern, like the planes circling the airport waiting to land. His earthly ministry is finished and He is now in heaven waiting to return in glory. Yes, He is sitting at His Father’s right hand – sitting because His work of redemption is done – and waiting until His ‘enemies are made his footstool’ (Heb. 10:13). But this is no passive waiting. He is not whiling away the days until He ushers in the new heaven and the new earth.

What is Jesus doing now? He is still reigning in power and authority. Paul assures us: ‘He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death’ (1 Cor. 15:25-26). Jesus is also still watching over His churches. The Apostle John’s vision, recorded in Revelation 2, depicts the risen Christ walking among the seven golden lampstands. Jesus knows everything about our churches, He sees what we are doing and He is walking among us. At the same time, Jesus is sustaining creation and bringing people to salvation.

Jesus is praying for us

These are just a few of the many things Jesus is doing as He waits at the right hand of the Father. But for me, perhaps the most precious of all is that Jesus is praying for us.

When we sin He is our advocate (1 John 2:1-2). He stands between us and a holy God and declares us righteous, not because of anything we have done, but because of His sacrifice on the cross. When we sin it is as if He turns to the Father and says: ‘I’ve paid for that’. But there’s more. Jesus ‘always lives to intercede’ for us (Heb. 7:25).

Jesus not only prays for me when I sin and need forgiveness, but also when I’m weak and need His strength, when I’m overcome with grief, when my prayers are no more than the groans of Romans 8. When I am too hurt or broken to pray, when temptation is round the corner, Jesus is praying for me. When anxiety is pressing in, when the deadline is looming, or when I’m caught up in the mundane routine of the day, Jesus is praying for me.

He is praying for our holiness, for our protection from the evil one, for our unity, that our faith would stay the course and that one day we would share in His glory. All the prayers He prayed for us on earth, He’s praying for us still (John 17).

Often we promise to pray for someone, but we get distracted and the moment passes. Jesus never forgets, He never gets distracted. He is always praying for us and He’s always praying the right thing for us, even when we don’t know what to pray for ourselves. He prays for what we never knew we needed or what we were not brave enough to ask for, and God always delights to answer His prayers.

What consolation! Jesus is not missing in action, waiting for the final grand reveal. Our Creator and loving Saviour sees us and all our needs and He is doing the very best thing He can, He is praying us home.