For instance, in the third portion of Jesus’ high-priestly prayer, the Lord prays specifically for “those who believe in me through their [the apostles’] word” (John 17:20). The believers of the future will be brought into the near presence of Jesus, not just in the sense that the stories of his life will be retold, but because the apostolic preaching, by the action of the Spirit, makes Jesus present.51 Paul, the apostle par excellence, does this directly in his letters.
