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John 17:6-19
Jesus now shifts the focus of His prayer from Himself to praying for His current Disciples. And I say it that way because eventually Jesus will pray a prayer for all of the believers who come in the future – we are indeed disciples of Jesus.
But in this section Jesus prays for the preservation of the Disciples. He prays for their unity, faithfulness, and He prays they would be able to complete the work that He gave them. Let’s read this together this morning.
John 17:6-19 (NIV) “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Again in Jesus’ prayer He and the Father are so connected, they are so unified in everything that has transpired to this point, you sometimes loose sight of where Christ ends and the Father begins.
Here Jesus is given these Disciples from the Father – they belonged to Him. Remember that when we make a decision to follow Jesus Christ as Messiah our citizenship moves from this world into the Kingdom of God.
But that doesn’t happen just simply because we make a conscious choice to follow Christ. You see before we make that decision, God enables us to see Jesus for who He truly is. God’s Holy Spirit goes before and prepares our hearts to receive Him. We call it prevenient grace.
Matthew 16:17 (NIV) Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
Now here in this prayer we can see that the Disciples stay faithful. Jesus knows what is coming and He is praying For their faithfulness, unity, and for them to complete the work He will give them – to go and do with others what He did with them.
Jesus’ prayer was not to physically protect the Disciples, but was asking the Father to guard their hearts against falling away from what He had already taught them.
Jesus’ prayer was not to take them out of the world. God the Father loves the world so much that He sent Jesus down to the world to bring reconciliation of all creation to Him – the Father.
But Jesus is speaking of the Disciples and the job they have to love God and love others in the world while not being influenced by the world.
Which brings us to a close today, and I want to ask you, are you being influenced by the world – or – are you influencing those around you by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit Who lives in you and through you. That was their task then and our task now.