With Dale Ratzlaff
John 17:11
I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
Jesus speaks to His Father as if He has already ascended to heaven. “I am no longer in the world.” He moved His focus to the reality of His future. Just as we say that we are seated “with Christ” in heavenly places, so Christ, on the eve of His passion, pictures His life already victorious “seated with His Father.” One would think that His attention would be on two topics: His coming death on the cross and glorious ascension to the glory of the Father. Not so. Rather, His heart is absorbed with His disciples. “They themselves are in the world.” For about three and a half years Jesus had been with the Twelve. Teaching them, guiding them, comforting them, now He reminds His Father, “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world.”
Jesus well knew the dangers in the world. For thirty-three years His pilgrimage witnessed the evil in the soul of humanity. He saw the cruelty in the heart of the religious leaders. He witnessed the pride in those who were wealthy. He observed the hopelessness of the sick, downtrodden, and demon possessed. He also knew the weakness, selfishness, and lack of faith in the disciples. All these things filled His mind when He prayed, “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world.” The world loves its own but hates those who are for Christ and those who are like Christ. Jesus had warned His men multiple times of coming danger.
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “A slave is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also (Jn. 15:18-20).
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (Jn. 16:33).
With the warnings of coming persecution, Jesus also gave them the secret to overcoming the hatred of the evil world. They were to “abide in Him.” Their victory was rooted in Christ’s victory. “I have overcome the world.” When they lacked direction and foresight, He promised that the Comforter would be in their presence to guide them.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you (Jn. 14:18).
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come (Jn. 16:13).
“If you ask the Father for anything in my name, He will give it to you” (Jn. 16:23).
We may wonder just why Jesus leaves His people in the world to face persecution and even death. In the answer, we see yet again God’s love for the world. To believers, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” Believers are still here so that we might illuminate this dark world. Only God’s people can shine the light of truth into the wicked schemes of the devil. We know God’s moral will for mankind.
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
That the disciples were to remain in the world to proclaim the gospel to the world ought to cause us to consider why we are still in this world. We must be the light in our family, neighborhood, city, and some will be called to be ambassadors to distant parts of the world.
Another reason the Father left the disciples, and us, in the world, was for the development of character. We are here to learn to trust the word of Christ when we cannot see what is ahead. It is the storms of life that show the weaknesses of our “ship.” Faith, hope, and love cannot be fully developed in times of ease. It is only when circumstances arise that show the weakness of our faith, the shallowness of our hope, and fickleness of our love that character is strengthened.
Living in this world, even though we are not of this world, teaches us that victory is not gained by our own strength. Rather, success is gained by our dependence upon the word of Christ.
As we contemplate this prayer of Christ for His chosen disciples, we can envision the multitude of thoughts and deep feeling Jesus had when he prayed,
I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world and I come to You.
Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me.
Jesus refers to God as “Father” over a hundred times just in the Gospel of John. However, the term “Holy Father” is used but once in all of Scripture. In the Old Testament, Israel understood the holiness of God. At the burning bush, Moses was told to take off his sandals because he was standing on “holy ground.” The Sabbath was considered a “holy day.” The center of Israel’s worship was the tabernacle and then later the temple. In it, there was a “holy place” and a “most holy place.” The priest wore “holy garments.” Sometimes people were killed for not respecting the “holiness” of things belonging to God.
But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God (2 Sam. 6:6-7).
When Isaiah was given a vision of God’s holiness, it affected him powerfully.
In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isa. 6:1-5).
The sovereignty and holiness of God received greater emphasis in the Old Testament.
By New Testament days this lesson had been learned all too well. Now God was often thought of as remote and lofty, as being great and dignified indeed, but distant and aloof. The need now was for stress on His love and His care. So Jesus speaks mostly in terms of God like “Father.” But the holiness is still there…The expression “Holy Father” is a reminder of both aspects of God’s nature ( Leon Morris, The Gospel of John, p. 727).
Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
The “name” of God stands for all that He is. In an earlier study, we discussed this. All His attributes are wrapped up in His name. The Holy Father is well able to keep the disciples, and us as well. As Jude, the brother of our Lord said:
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude 1:24-25).
What a promise this is! How easy it is for us to stumble in our walk with God. We can look at the disciple’s many failings, and yet our Holy Father will keep us in His name.
We now come to the purpose of “keeping.”
…keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
Jesus did not pray that the disciples become one, but that they may “continually be” one as Jesus and the Father are one. It is assumed that they are already one. Now Jesus prays that they will remain one.
The “oneness” is like that of the Father and the Son but not identical. There are only three in that sacred, divine, unity of the Eternal God. The oneness for which Christ prays is the oneness of abiding, remaining in His word, and continuing in the faith. However, it is more, it is knowing that they are “in Christ,” and Christ is “in them.” It is an assurance that the power of our Holy Father is keeping them.
We should be clear that the unity for which Christ prays is a unity which rests on a common basic attitude, that of abiding in Him and having Him abide in them. “It is the Divine unity of love that is referred to, all wills bowing in the same direction all affections burning with the same flame, all aims directed to the same end—one blessed harmony of love” (Ibid. p. 727).
As far as revealed in Scripture, there was only one prayer of Jesus that was not totally answered. In the garden just before the mobs led by Judas came to arrest Him, He prayed.
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mt. 26:39).
However, there was no other way, and Jesus submitted to the Father’s will
What assurance comes when we know that Christ prayed for the disciples. The Holy Father kept these men. He kept them in the wicked world. He kept them from stumbling. Now, this side of the cross, Jesus is our Mediator. We have the promises of His word.
Knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you (2 Cor. 4:14).
That He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27).
…who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet. 1:5).
Application
- In this section, we see the deep love and concern of Jesus for the spiritual welfare of His disciples. This should give us courage. He cares for us as much as He did for them. We, too, will be “kept” by our Holy Father.
- We, like the disciples, will face difficult circumstances. These are necessary for us to develop character and in so doing, bring glory to Christ.
- We are in the world to be lights to the world. Our primary mission is to proclaim the good news of the grace of Christ.
- We may feel alone, but as Christ prayed for His disciples, we know that now as our Mediator who has finished the atonement, He intercedes for us on the basis of His victory over the world and the devil.
- We should seek every possible way to be one with God and one with our fellow Christinas without compromising the principles of the gospel.
- We should understand both the holiness of God and His intimate love and care for believers.
Prayer
Father, thank you that you have answered Christ’s prayer for His disciples, and also for me. Thank you that you will “keep” me in your love and grace. I may face difficult circumstances, but I know that you will be with me during these times. Help me to share the good news of your grace to those in my circle of influence. Help me realize what a huge benefit it is to be “in Christ.” May I seek to be one with you and my fellow Christians.
In Jesus name. †
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