40 Names of Jesus in 40 days of Lent — Day 20

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

1 Timothy 2:5

Context: This verse comes in a section on praying for other people, especially but not exclusively for those with high political power. We live at a time when political leaders are in the limelight. Actually, there is no time when political leaders are not in the news, as media editors are drawn towards power and some politicians love publicity. With Russian troops slowly advancing in Ukraine at the time of writing, I am praying for peace, justice and mercy not only for the people of Ukraine but also justice for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. May he get what he truly deserves. Our God is a god of justice and peace.

The prayer in this passage comes in four types:

• supplications,  an appeal for a particular need;
• prayers, petitions
• intercessions, an urgent and bold request
• thanksgivings.

To get this passage in context we need to take the Roman Emperor cult of the first century. But Paul, writing to Timothy in verse 2, goes against the current culture by not saying pray to kings but pray for them.

So having established that political leaders are not the ones to pray to comes the punchline: Christ Jesus is the only mediator, pray to him, he understands what it is to be human and he is in heaven sitting on the right-hand side of the Father.