Jesus Prays For His Disciples
JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS DISCIPLES
JOHN 17:9-19
We are all tempted to run away when things get tough, but Jesus wants us to live in this world.
Having described something of what he has done for the disciples, Jesus now turns to praying for them. He clearly distinguishes them from the world, for they belong in a special way to the Father and the Son. Because Jesus is leaving the world, their position as his representatives is of special importance. So he prays that his Father will keep them united and faithful. The unity of the disciples should be such as the unity of the Father and the Son. He also prays that they may have joy such as he had and would have in his return to the Father.
The passing on to them of the word of God meant a calling of them out of the world. Their true allegiance was now elsewhere and they would therefore incur the hatred of the world. But he does not pray for their withdrawal from a hostile world but rather for them to be kept safe in the world from the attacks of the evil one. Just as Jesus himself had a heavenly origin and destination, so in a sense the disciples have too. But just as he had a mission to the world, so have they. And his consecration of himself was also a consecration of them for service.
Notes 17:9: this does not mean that “the world” is not still the object of God’s love for whose sake the Son came (3:16). In the writings of John “the world” means, not the created order as such, nor the gifts of God in nature and human life, but human life and society lived in disregard of God and under the power of evil. In the divine strategy the outreach to the world is always through the disciples (17:20f.). Almost all prayer in the New Testament is prayer for Christians, but it includes the request that they should be ready to take evangelistic opportunities (cf. Acts 4:29f.). 17:10: cf. the dependence of the love of Christians (15:9) and their mission (20:21) on the relationship of the Father and the Son. 17:12: “the son of perdition”— NEB, “the man who must be lost” (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 John 2:18,22; 4:3). In some sense he is almost an incarnation of Satan. 17:17,19: the consecration of the disciples for the service of God depends both on the truth of God’s word (maybe a reference to Jesus himself 1:1; 14:6) and on his consecration of himself. It is not a mere human effort at self-improvement.