John 17:6-19…
During His time on earth, Jesus made the Father’s name great and His Word clear to the original disciples. These men were chosen by the Father, and given to Jesus. They had glorified Jesus, understanding that He was from the Father, and they accepted His teaching.
Jesus had prayed for the Father to be glorified by His death, and now He prays for the disciples. He is not praying for the whole world, but for those that the Father had given Him. These men had been unified with God. Jesus had equipped them for their mission.
Jesus prays that the Father might protect His disciples from “the evil one”. While the world will hate the disciples and oppose them, the source behind this resistance is Satan. He seeks to undermine the faith of believers and to defeat their witness to the world. He desires to rob believers of their unity and their joy. Jesus prays that they may fulfill their mission in the face of opposition. The mission is to spread the Word to the glory of God.
The grounds of Jesus’ prayer are rooted in the eternal purposes of God. Jesus consecrated Himself for this purpose: that we might be set apart for God’s truth. It is by receiving and abiding in His Word that we realize our unity and are filled with joy. The Word is what sets us apart for the power of truth. It was so for the first disciples, and it is so for us.
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