Jesus prays for the ones God gave to him

John 17:6-12

6 ‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 

In this second section of the prayer, Jesus prays for the disciples who have been with him through his ministry. Notice how Jesus recognizes the disciples as a trust he had been given by God the Father, to whom he is praying. God the Father (Creator) made human beings, including the disciples. Vs. 6 – “they were yours and you gave them to me.” Vs. 9 – “I am asking…on behalf of those you gave me.” Jesus says that he protected the disciples, guarded them (vs. 12).

Jesus makes a claim and then asks for two things on the disciples’ behalf.

First, Jesus says that he has spoken to them the words that God the Father gave him (this is in line with John 16:12-15 – that Jesus speaks the words of God the Father.)

The two requests are:

a.     that God the Father will protect the disciples. This again is about Jesus going away and therefore not being able to protect them as he did when he was on earth. Protection is not protection from physical harm, Jesus knows they will be persecuted, some will even become martyrs for the faith. Instead, this is protection from spiritual harm.

b.     That the disciples would be one, as the Trinity is one. This oneness is not sameness – the three persons of the Trinity are different and have different roles, but they share a common commitment to the mission and purpose of God in the world. So while the disciples are different from one another, Jesus prays that they will be unified in purpose and in common cause and care for each other. Such unity comes not by human planning and scheming but by the power of God at work.

PRAYER:

Father, we pray for protection for our Christian siblings, fellow siblings in Jesus Christ, protect them from spiritual harm. Give them and us courage in the face of difficulty and threat, uncertainty and competing words. Teach us, that because you are God, we do not need to be afraid. In Jesus’ name. Amen.