ASKING THE INTERCESSION OF THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN

It's been a while since I have blogged about a theological topic, so I thought I'd overview my perspective on the intercession of the saints. This was spawned by a very enlightening and charitable Facebook dialogue, but I thought it best to fully illuminate my point of view.

To many non-orthodox Christians, the concept of asking dead people to intercede for us, more specifically the saints in Heaven, may seem a bit foreign. Why would we want to ask the intercession of those who have perished in God's favour? Don't we have only one mediator--Jesus Christ? Shouldn't we just go directly to Him?



"For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).

PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER

Praying to Jesus, our Lord and Saviour is essential to our life of faith and can be a form of worship. However, it's not the only Christian instruction given to us relating to prayer. Do you ever ask a friend or family member to pray for you when you are going through a hard time? I'd suspect most practicing Christians have done so. In spite of this, many try to use the preceding verse as a reason to dismiss the notion of intercession of the saints. All the while, just three short verses earlier in the passage the Apostle Paul instructs us to intercede for one another with prayers and petitions:

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:1-5).

If Paul is instructing us to ONLY utilize Jesus as our intercessor, is it not a contradiction that three verses earlier he instructs Christians to be mediators for each other as well? James also gives us similar instruction:

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" (James 5:16).

He goes on to tell us about Elijah and the effectiveness of his prayers because of his righteousness:

"Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops" (James 5:17-18).

James uses Elijah as the ultimate example to display that prayers are more effective when we are asking them in a higher degree of righteousness. Scripture tells us that, "nothing unclean shall enter Heaven" (Revelation 21:27). Those saints in heaven are even more effective to "accomplish much", as they are completely free of sin, holy.

NOTHING CAN SEPARATE, NOT DEATH NOR LIFE

One might suggest that those in Heaven are separated from us. But are not all sincere Christ followers members of the body of Christ, buried with Christ in baptism and raised with Him also (Colossians 2:12)? Does this membership end with earthly death? Absolutely not, our souls are members of the mystical body of Christ. Jesus himself said,

“'I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB '? He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matthew 22:32).

While in God's favour, when our fleshly body is separated from our soul at death, we are cleansed of the temporal effects of sin (Revelation 21:27) and united with God in Heaven, and continue to stay members of His body:

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

So perhaps it is misleading to describe this practice as, “praying to the dead”, because those faithful souls who have perished here on earth, in God’s favour, are not dead, but are truly alive in Christ, perhaps even more fully alive.

ARE THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN AWARE OF OUR PRAYERS?

In Revelation, John makes visible the offerings of our prayers to God:

"the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb [Jesus], each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Revelation 5:8).

The "twenty-four elders" are real beings (deceased faithful, not angels), offering the prayers of the saints (who are the believers on earth) to God. Prayers are not physical matter, yet John depicts the offering here as incense, indicating for us that the prayers offered to God are through the elders. The elders are intervening for us as they offer the prayers of the saints (our prayers) to the Lamb. The elders have an awareness of earthly things, specifically our prayers, and are interceding for us.
But even if they were not aware of the details of the prayers, does that make their intercession non-effective? I receive prayer requests all the time from people who do not want to disclose what the prayer intention is or even who it is for! Does this mean that my effort of intercession towards these is a wasted initiative? I think not. So why would it be any different for those in Heaven currently interceding for us as Revelation 5:8 demonstrates?

CONJURING THE DEAD?

One might argue that the Bible condemns conjuring up the dead, isn't this the same thing? Often times Deuteronomy 18:10–11 is used to try and prove that God has forbidden conversing with the deceased. However, Jesus himself had both Moses and Elijah appear with Him on the mount in the transfiguration. One might propose that this was simply a vision. However, we can quickly disregard this idea by recognizing that the Apostles considered the experience reality by desiring to build three tents for their new guests to reside. Jesus was also conversing with these faithful deceased, Godly men, along with Peter and the other Apostles (Matthew 17:3). There is an obvious difference between sorcery to conjure spirits and asking for intercession.

IDOLATRY? Does prayer always equate to worship?

Some suggest that this is considered a form of idolatry. Sometimes we presume that prayer equates to "worship". However, a closer look at what "prayer" is, clarifies this for us. The word "pray" simply means, "to ask". There are numerous examples of the word "pray" in scripture apart from the action of worship:

“And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.” (Genesis 13:8 KJV)

“And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” (Acts 8:34 KJV)

Is it considered idolatry to ask your spouse, friend or family member to keep your intention in their prayers? If not, why then would asking the saints in Heaven, members of the one body, for intercession be any different? Obviously we are not worshipping these saints, nor are we bestowing to them any glory or honour due only to the Lord any more than we are committing idolatry by asking our loved ones for prayers. We are simply, "asking", "I pray thee..." which was Shakespeare's favourite phrase.

Both Paul and James instructed the early Christians to intercede and pray for one another, therefore labelling this practice as idolatry or a form of worship seems unbiblical and unorthodox.

IS THIS A NEW PRACTICE?

Contrary to contemporary belief, this practice is both orthodox and historical, found in the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Jews even to this day pray to and for those deceased. In fact, opposition to this practice is a recent development.

The Septuagint was the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the commonly accepted collection of Scriptures when Jesus was here on earth. It's also where two thirds of the New Testament quotes from the Old Testament are taken from, and the collection of Scriptures Jesus, the Apostles and the New Testament writers reference. Found in this same collection of Scriptures we read about Judas Maccabee praying for his deceased soldiers (2 Maccabees 12:38-46). Even if one does not accept the Deuterocanonical books as inspired, we must at least recognize their emphasis of importance, as the author of the book of Hebrews references Maccabees for us (Hebrews 11:35), indicating the author himself considered it necessary. We must also accept the fact that these writings were considered authoritative and inspired by the Jewish Church, and Jesus himself. This orthodox practice is present across history, right from the successors of the Apostles.

So knowing the saints in heaven are that much closer to God, holy and free of sin--more capable to "accomplish much" through righteousness; and knowing that as the body of Christ we are not separated by earthly death, but remain living and united in Heaven...Why would we not ask the saints in Heaven to intercede for us, just like we would ask our friends to pray for us, in addition to praying directly to God.

My friends, fellow Christ followers, and members of the body of Christ--please keep me in your prayers, both today, tomorrow, and when you meet God face to face ;)

Amen.

Do you have a different perspective? I'd love to hear it in a spirit of charity :)

(c) Copyright Chris Bray, 2013.
www.chrisbraymusic.com