1 After Jesus had finished speaking to his disciples, he looked up toward heaven and prayed:
Father, the time has come for you to bring glory to your Son, in order that he may bring glory to you. 2 And you gave him power over all people, so that he would give eternal life to everyone you give him. 3 Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. 4 I have brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, give me back the glory that I had with you before the world was created.
6 You have given me some followers from this world, and I have shown them what you are like. They were yours, but you gave them to me, and they have obeyed you. 7 They know that you gave me everything I have. 8 I told my followers what you told me, and they accepted it. They know that I came from you, and they believe that you are the one who sent me. 9 I am praying for them, but not for those who belong to this world. My followers belong to you, and I am praying for them. 10 All that I have is yours, and all that you have is mine, and they will bring glory to me.
11 Holy Father, I am no longer in the world. I am coming to you, but my followers are still in the world. So keep them safe by the power of the name that you have given me. Then they will be one with each other, just as you and I are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost, except the one who had to be lost. This happened so that what the Scriptures say would come true.
13 I am on my way to you. But I say these things while I am still in the world, so that my followers will have the same complete joy that I do. 14 I have told them your message. But the people of this world hate them, because they don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t.
15 Father, I don’t ask you to take my followers out of the world, but keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They don’t belong to this world, and neither do I. 17 Your word is the truth. So let this truth make them completely yours. 18 I am sending them into the world, just as you sent me. 19 I have given myself completely for their sake, so that they may belong completely to the truth.
20 I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. 21 I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.
22 I have honored my followers in the same way that you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. 23 I am one with them, and you are one with me, so that they may become completely one. Then this world’s people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.
24 Father, I want everyone you have given me to be with me, wherever I am. Then they will see the glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the world was created. 25 Good Father, the people of this world don’t know you. But I know you, and my followers know that you sent me. 26 I told them what you are like, and I will tell them even more. Then the love that you have for me will become part of them, and I will be one with them.
Read John 17:1-26 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
During one of Jesus’ prayers on the night He was arrested, He prays for the disciples and all of His future followers in the coming months, years, and centuries. It is in a portion of this prayer that we see a profound statement and mission for Jesus’ followers, and in this prayer, we have a promise we can claim for when trouble comes our way.
A little over half way through the prayer as John records it, Jesus prays, “Father, I don’t ask you to take my followers out of the world, but keep them safe from the evil one. They don’t belong to this world, and neither do I. Your word is the truth. So let this truth make them completely yours. I am sending them into the world, just as you sent me. I have given myself completely for their sake, so that they may belong completely to the truth.” (v. 15-19)
What I find amazing in this prayer is that Jesus specifically asks the Father to keep us safe from the evil one. This is an incredible promise we can claim when we feel attacked or targeted by Satan. However, with that said, Jesus also notes that He is not asking God to remove His followers from the world. While that would be one way to keep them safe, it is not Jesus’ chosen method.
This portion of the prayer echoes our mission as disciples to be salt and light to the world. We cannot have a good influence on others if we are millions of light years away in heaven. We cannot share what God has done for us if we have been stolen away to heaven at the moment we accepted Jesus into our hearts. In a subtle way, Jesus also implies here that death does not immediately shift His followers into heaven – because that would also technically be taking them out of the world.
Instead, Jesus says that while we don’t belong to this world, we have been sent into it just as the Father had sent Jesus. This is an incredible mission and one that we only have a handful of decades in history to move forward. Jesus asks for protection for us from the evil one, and while this promise might not always seem to smooth challenges or problems out in our lives, through this request we can be assured that any negative that does come is something that God can turn into a positive if we let Him.
Jesus has sent us into the world, and while He specifically requests that the Father not remove us, He has prayed for our safety and protection from Satan. Through Jesus and the truth He shared from God, we are completely God’s and this means that this world does not have any claim on us. With God’s truth and gospel message, we are sent on a mission for Jesus into the world. Jesus gave Himself for each of us and each of us is invited to return the favor by giving our lives back to Him.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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