Intercession

Intercession, Intercessor

• intercession = mediation, coming between, joining together

• intercessor = one who mediates, who brings together, or acts on behalf of

Expanded entry from Glossary "Glossary of terms "Intercession, intercessor"

Definition

• "to intercede" or "come between", or a person who intercedes or comes between
  • inter- (between) + cedere (Latin for "to go")
    • cedere from PIE *ked- "to go, yield"
  • thus" go between"
    • = "a mediator"

Purpose

• intercession = prayer for intercession is usually for that of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Saints
• intercession is generally understood as that of Christ:

Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father on behalf of all men, especially sinners.¹¹² He is "able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."¹¹³ The Holy Spirit "himself intercedes for us . . . and intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (CCC 2634)

• from CCC Glossary: "A form of prayer of petition on behalf of others. The prayer of intercession leads us to pray as Christ, our unique Intercessor, prayed (2634):

• from CCC 2635:

Since Abraham, intercession - asking on behalf of another has been characteristic of a heart attuned to God's mercy. In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints. In intercession, he who prays looks "not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others," even to the point of praying for those who do him harm.

• A powerful example of prayer for intercession comes in the FIDEI DEPOSITUM, printed in the Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Saint Pope John Paul II (p. 6)

At the conclusion of this document presenting the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I beseech the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word and Mother of the Church, to support with her powerful intercession the catechetical work of the entire Church on every level, at this time when she is called to a new effort of evangelization. May the light of the true faith free humanity from the ignorance and slavery of sin in order to lead it to the only freedom worthy of the name (cf. Jn 8:32): that of life in Jesus Christ under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, here below and in the Kingdom of heaven, in the fullness of the blessed vision of God face to face (cf. 1 Cor 13:12; 2 Cor 5:6-8)

Intercession through Christ in Scripture

John 2:1:

My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.

Luke 4:38:

After he left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her.

Mark 1:30:

Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her.

Rom 8:34:

Who will condemn? It is Christ [Jesus] who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.

1 Tim 2:5-6:

For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all.

Heb 7:25:

Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them.

• see Intercession | Catholic Answers Encyclopedia

Intercession of the Son to the Father in Scripture

Who can forgive sins?

When Jesus forgives the sins of the paralytic, the pharisees are horrified and reply,

“Why does this man speak that way?* He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (Mk 2:7)

Such a wonderful response from the Lord (Mk 2:9-12),

"Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”—he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”

He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

Jesus' use of the "Son of Man" is confusing, but in this passage we see exactly what he means: The Father has empowered the Son of Man to forgive sins:

"the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth"

In other words, not from heaven but from earth does the Son of Man have the authority from God in heaven. So we see that the Son of Man is God's representative on earth -- is it Jesus the man or Christ the Messiah? Doesn't matter -- indeed, it's both, as Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. Still, it is an "authorization", which means a power conveyed upon another. And when the authorized party acts on that conveyed power, there we have the intercession. Of course, Jesus subsequently conveys that same authority upon the Apostles,

He summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases (Lk 9:1)

Praying for Peter

We all know how at the Last Supper, Jesus tells the brash Peter that he will deny him. What is often missed is the larger context of the passage, which in Luke 22 is called "Peter's Denial Foretold." In Luke 22:31-32, Jesus tells him,

"Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus "prayed" for Peter -- and not only prayer to uphold Peter's faith, but that he will then strengthen the faith of his "brothers" (the Apostles), a magnificent demonstration of intercession to God on behalf of others. John 17 is entitled, "The Prayer of Jesus." Here Jesus prays to the Father for himself, for the Apostles, and for all is disciples.

I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours (Jn 17:9)

I do not ask that you take them out of the worldj but that you keep them from the evil one. (Jn 17:15)

“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word (Jn 17:20)

Intercession of the Saints according to the Gospels

The Wedding at Cana

Saint Mary, the Mother of God, intercedes to Jesus on behalf of the wedding party, which has run out of wine:

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine." (John 2:1-3)

Jesus replies,

Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." (Jn 2:4)

One can contemplate forever this passage (what an eternal reward that would be!), but for our purposes regarding intercession, we'll focus on the aspect that Jesus demonstrates to Mary that in this instance, he will only act here on her request -- she must ask for the intercession. She understands him completely, then turns to the servants, saying probably one of the most concise instructions in the Gospel (Jn 2:5):

“Do whatever he tells you."

A couple more things to note here:

1. Mary was a guest and thereby had no obligation or duties over managing the wine.
   1. thereby she learned of it from someone else.
   2. we cannot say if she merely heard it it-- which is unlikely, as Jesus would have, too, or if the problem was brought to her -- more likely.
2. Jesus requires that Mary ask him
   1. thus marking the distinction between believers and unbelievers
   2. i.e., Mt. 7:8: "For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
      1. see also Jn 5:14: "And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."
3. As she orders the servers to "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5), Mary shows us her intercessory role as "mediatrix" in 1) bringing the problem to Jesus; and 2) directing the servants to follow him.

Thus we see the power of intercession that belongs to the Holy Mother and the Church's terminology for her as "Advocate" and "Mediatrix." Mary, Aquinas explains, "First, she intercedes, with her Son. In the second place, she instructs the servants."

The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

Jesus tells the parable (moral story) of a rich man who died the same day as a poor beggar, Lazarus. Lazarus was welcomed to Heaven by Abraham, while the rich man went to "the netherworld" (hell).

The rich man pleads for mercy, but Abraham tells him that there can be no "crossing...from our side to yours, or your side to ours" (Lk 16:26)

The rich man begs Abraham to at least warn his brothers "lest they too come to this place of torment" (Lk 16:28).

Jesus continues the the exchange,

"But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’

He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Lk 29:31). 

We see several elements of intercession here as taught by Jesus:

1. There is no intercession available to those in hell.
2. Abraham does not say that "someone from the dead" cannot visit the rich man's brothers; instead he said they wouldn't believe it, anyway., if one did.

Note that Jesus has Abraham tell us to "listen to Moses and the prophets", which means to listen also to Jesus and his Evangelists, the writers of the New Testament

The Death of Jesus

Upon Jesus' death, as he "gave up his spirit" (Mt 27:50),

tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. (Mt 27:52)

We see here that the dead are raised and can interact with mortals. There is not affirmation of intercession here, but we can infer that if the dead can interact with the living, and if the dead who do so reside in Heaven, they can can take back to heaven our prayers and supplications (see Eph 6:18).

Intercession of the Saints according to the Epistles

Confession and Intercession

From the Epistle of James, the author instructs that prayer is powerful and effective:

pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful. (Jas 5:16)

There is no direct reference to intercession of the Saints, here.

However, if we put James 5:16 together with Luke 29:31 and Matthew 27:50, which affirm the interactions of the dead with the mortal world, then James' advise that "the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful" means that if through our prayers a Saint pray for us, then that prayer of the Saint, who is by definition righteous, is "very powerful."

Intercession for the Dead according to the Old Testament

The book of Maccabees tells us about the hero Judas Maccabeus who liberated the Jews from Greek occupation. After a battle, Judas went to bury his dead and found that each body had "amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear" (2 Mac 12:40), which was why they had been killed

Judas collected silver from his troops and sent it to Jerusalem as an "expiatory sacrifice" (for forgiveness of the sins of the dead soldiers; (2 Mac 12:43), and prayed for them,

for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin (2 Mac 12:44-46).

We can infer several important teachings from this passage:

1. The dead may lie in judgment (purgatory*)
2. Intercessory prayer from the living may assist those in purgatory

* note: the Protestant Bible does not include the Books of Maccabees precisely because of this point about purgatory. Martin Luther objected to it, so he declared the book "apocryphal" or not fully the Word of God. Later protestant churches more thoroughly expunged the "Apocryphal" works.