Praying for his Disciples
TRANSLATION
(9) “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. (10) All I have is yours, and all you have is mine, and I am glorified in them. (11) I will not remain in the world any longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by (the power of) your name which you have given me, that they may be one, just as we are (one). (12) While I was with them, I protected them by (the power of) your name which you have given me. I guarded them and have not lost one of them except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture might be fulfilled.
(13) “But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. (14) I have given them your word, and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (15) I do not pray that you remove them from the world but that you protect them from the evil one. (16) They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. (17) Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. (18) As you sent me into the world, even so I send them into the world, (19) and for them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”
OBSERVATIONS
Repetitions in this middle segment of Jesus’ high priestly prayer where he prayed earnestly for his disciples included “am praying/am not praying” (vs. 9), “yours” three times and “mine” twice in close succession (vss. 9 & 10). He used “the world” twelve times with a variety of modifiers including “for/in/not of/out of/into” (in vss. 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, & 18), “protect/protected” (twice in vss. 11 & 12) along with “guarded” (vs. 12), and “sanctify them/sanctified in the truth” (vss. 17 & 18). Because of these repetitions, we know that the disciples’ well-being while remaining in the world was foremost in Jesus’ thinking.
OUTLINE
Jesus prayed not for the world but for his disciples remaining in the world…
– that the Father would keep them secure in his name. (9-16)
– that the Father would sanctify them in the truth. (17 & 18)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus prayed earnestly for his disciples that the Father would keep them secure and sanctify them in the truth after he left them behind.
APPLICATION
Like a good parent with maturing children, Jesus spent much of his time preparing his disciples for the moment when he would no longer be present to guide and protect them. Just before his departure, he prayed that the Father would keep his followers safe through the truth of his Word. He used the verb, “sanctify,” to describe what he was asking the Father to do.
The basic meaning of sanctify is “to be set apart for a special purpose.” The word was often used to speak of objects that were designated for the use of Israel’s priests in their leading Israel’s worship, first in the tabernacle and later in the temple. No longer would the oil or incense, tongs or censers called “holy,” be available for everyday purposes. Instead, they would be set apart for God’s worship. In like manner, Jesus prayed that his disciples would be “sanctified in the truth,” the truth of God’s Word, set apart for the special purpose of continuing his work after he had departed. Having equipped them with the Father’s truth as well as giving them “another comforter, the Holy Spirit,” to empower them in a hostile world, he now prayed for them to be set apart for God’s purposes as he, himself, had been set apart to accomplish the Father’s will.