John 17:6 "I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8 for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.
9 "My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. 10 All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. 11 Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. 12 During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.
13 "Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.
observation
Very few people are aware of the time and date that they are going to leave this planet, at this point in the book of John, Jesus is preparing to die a horrible death, but in the same sacrificial way that he always has, he is more concerned for his disciples that he is leaving behind than he is for his own welfare.
What a challenge for us that we should become a fraction of the selfless nature that Jesus was, with the exception of a couple of boat rides and one donkey ride, he walked everywhere that he went, he went without food and water, he probably never had a Posture-pedic mattress to sleep on. He was mentally and emotionally stretched as people were pulling at his side wanting to get something for themselves as they selfishly begged for a cure for whatever ailed them. Others were throwing out traps to try to catch him in his words so that they could find an adequate excuse to have him killed. Imagine putting your head down at the end of the day and trying to fall asleep after all that was going on around you.
Jesus prays for the welfare of his disciples instead of his own welfare, Jesus came to earth with a message from God which he gave to his disciples:
I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.Jesus knows that they will have hard times, they will be hated just as he was and they would be persecuted just as he was. I think that if I was one of those twelve disciples that I would be saying to myself "Jesus got to leave this world, I want to go too" but Jesus didn't pray for them to be taken out of this cruel world instead he asked God to give them protection from the evil one while they were still here.
Jesus prayed for protection but it wasn't in the way that we may wish that he would have. He didn't pray for us to have a life free of pain and suffering, he didn't pray for us to be rich and famous, the protection that he prayed for us to have was only from the power of the devil.
After that the next thing that he prayed for his disciples was for them to become holy:
Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.Did you catch that? Jesus said he was paving the way for us, he said that he is holy and that he is going to be the sacrifice that is necessary for us to be holy too. Ever since the book of Leviticus the Lord has called his people to be set apart and be different from the rest of this world, he told us to "be holy, because he is holy" and yet so many times we look just like every other sinner that is in this world. Ephesians 1:4 tells us:
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.Because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, we have an obligation to live for him and to become a child that represents the family well, we shouldn't be the prodigal son that looks just like the rest of the world with its selfish desires, instead we should strive to look like our father who is holy.
application
Anybody that knows that they are approaching death doesn't waste time talking about stuff that doesn't matter, if it was important for Jesus to bring up as he comes close to the end of his time on earth then I should take notice, his prayer for us to become holy should be the prayer of every believer.
1 Peter 1:15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
prayer
Help me to realize the extreme love that you have for me, love that brings you such heartache and great joy. Help me to desire to become more like you every day so that I will look more like my heavenly Father.
