Holy Father, Protect Them

John 17:6-19

Key Verse 11

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one.

In the previous passage we learned of Jesus' prayer for himself. He prayed to glorify God by revealing God through his death and resurrection. He didn't view his sufferings and death as a tragedy, but as glory time! By revealing who Jesus really is, that is, the Creator who has glory, he wanted to reveal the Father and give eternal life. I learned to pray to reveal God as the way to glorify him--specifically by obeying him, as Jesus did, though it comes with sufferings, so that people might know God and have eternal life. And this is important to think about in view of today's passage. Think about the timing of his prayer. It was the night he would be arrested and then suffer and die on a cross. But he didn't pray, "Just give me one more day!" most might ask for more time even just one more day. This is especially important when we think about the condition of his disciples. Did they look like they were in a good condition where Jesus could leave them? Would you leave them in their current condition? Yet Jesus was resolute to go to the cross even though it means leaving them. He was confident to do it for God's glory and trusted in God. Why did he do this? He prayed for them. 

In today's passage Jesus continued his prayer by praying for his disciples. Through his prayer we can learn how he provided for his disciples to be protected as they remain in the world, and not only to remain in the world but to be sent into the world just as Jesus and been sent to do God's work. So we can learn how we can pray for disciples too. Jesus was leaving and going back to the Father. But the disciples were still in the world. Jesus did not pray for them to be taken out of it. What did he do regarding them? He prayed for them. But not for a speedy exit out of the world. No, he prayed that the Father would protect them by the power of his name. This is an important prayer. There will be times when we have to pray for disciples because we cannot be with them and we cannot take them out of the world. That is a reality. Rather than be so stressed, we can pray as Jesus did for he was leaving his disciples in the world and would not be with them physically. Sometimes, I was so stressed for disciples I knew were in worldly environments and I wanted nothing more than to take them out. Then I could feel secure. But the reality is I could not. I can't believe it, but this year Cari and I are registering our daughter Noah Grace to be in kindergarten. I am scared that now is the time she will learn many bad things like I did in school. But I learned in today's passage how I can pray for her protection. There are some high schoolers graduating this year and getting ready to go off to college. We can prepare them and pray for them too. We can be effective to help disciples through praying for them as Jesus did.

What then does it mean for them to protected by the power of God's name? It is not a kind of magic or mystery. There are several practical parts to it. Jesus worked hard for them that he could pray like this. Let's look at the passage to see what this prayer of protection is about.

First, he revealed God to them.

Look at verse 6. The first part says, "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world." In the first place, for the power of his name to protect them, Jesus revealed God to them. Where it says, "I have revealed 'you,' " this word "you" literally is, "your name," in the original Greek.To protect them by the power of God’s name, Jesus had to reveal God’s name to them. So they came to know who God is. To reveal God's name is to reveal who God is. 

Is this true? In chapter 14, Philip said that they did not know or see the Father! But Jesus told him that he didn't know that he did know because he knew Jesus. It was shocking. When Jesus revealed himself, he revealed the Father, for the Father is in him. How did he do it? Let's look at the rest of verse 6 through verse 8. 

"[6b] They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. [7] Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. [8] For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me."

He gave them God's word. We can see that Jesus did not just recite God's word to them or make them listen to it. He worked with them and taught them so that they "accepted them" and "obeyed" them. So the first step to pray for disciples to be protected by the power of God's name is to reveal God's name to them by his word. And this is done through teaching them to accept and obey them. 

This is the same way that Jesus commanded his disciples to make disciples of all nations, by "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20). We need to have a clear prayer and goal like Jesus when we are with disciples and use our time with them in the best way. Jesus shows us that we need to reveal God to them. Disciples need to know who God is through the word of God that we give them. Our teaching has to be aimed at helping people to accept and obey God's word that God might be revealed to them. 

Do you have this kind of prayer and purpose when you have a Bible study with others? Jesus tells us that by his word God is revealed. We don't need to look or ask for or expect other, even supernatural things, to reveal God. According to Jesus, we can reveal him by his word. And when we give his word, we do so helping people to know him, and to accept and obey those words.

Of course, many people have read the Bible but didn’t know God. And this might be our case at times. Look again at verses 6-8. Jesus says that he gave them God’s word and they did two things: accepted them and obeyed them. Through accepting and obeying God’s word we can know God. So it’s not enough to just read or study the Bible, but to accept and obey it.

We have to know then how to handle God's word properly so that he might be revealed in it and people would accept and obey it. It is not easy to say accept and obey. We can't make anyone do these two things. But we can teach obedience as Jesus said. Not just to know bible passages, but to obey them. It takes his wisdom and help. And when we handle God's word properly we may present it so that people may accept it. Of course, we have to accept and obey first! Jesus set this example for us. 

This comes through discipline and training. In our recent 9 Steps study program, we had this as our focus. I hope all of the members remember this goal we had. We focused on 9 bible passages that revealed Jesus and the meaning of the gospel. As we studied, it was a disciplined study to learn, essentially, how to read the Bible and teach the word to others. The Spring conference messengers are also going through this kind of discipline now as they are preparing their messages. Please pray for them in this way to learn to read and handle the word of God in their respective passages, and so that they may give the word of God and reveal Jesus that all the newcomers God sends might accept and believe and know him and have eternal life. Please pray also that God would send many to us and bless our going out to invite. 

Second, the prayer for protection is a prayer for unity.

Look at verse 11 again. "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one."

He prayed for them to be protected so that they may be one. How much should they be one? He says, "as we are one," meaning, with the same level of unity as Jesus and the Father! Is this possible? Absolutely, that is why Jesus prayed for it! But let’s think about it a little. A husband and wife are called as, two who become one. But is it so easy for a husband and wife to be one not just in name, but as Jesus and the Father are one? Robert and Miriam Fishman have been married for more than 10 years, and just now they keep saying, “Finally, we became one!” And they are very happy! How about between coworkers and brothers and sisters in the Lord? It is in this context that Jesus prays for protection for his disciples. And it tells us that this really is a big issue and not something to regard lightly. Although we are in the Downey chapter, or call each brother or fellowship believer, we have to aim to be one just as Jesus and the Father are one. This is how he prayed for his disciples. 

Jesus is addressing a main problem among his disciples: division. We know about this well. There’s my idea and your idea, and my fellowship and your fellowship, etc. But Jesus and the Father didn’t talk like that. In this passage we see that the Father gave Jesus the disciples. “They were yours; you gave them to me” (6). And he has been saying, “All that belongs to the Father is mine” (John 16:15). The Father didn’t withhold anything from Jesus.  And now Jesus was giving the disciples back to the Father. Now he prayed, “that they may be one as we are one.”

In what way should they be one? The word "Holy" in "Holy Father" tells us. Jesus used this word to best describe and call to the Father at this time. I believe holiness speaks to true unity. God is holy. He is not a sinner. He is not divisive or double-minded. He is one. The Father and is holy. And to be one Jesus must also be holy. It is through the growing in the Lord's holiness through his word. How did Jesus do it? Jesus loved and obeyed the Father. This required humbling himself, denying, and giving up his life for the Father. He did everything with the single purpose to love and obey God’s word. Therefore, he set the example for us to be one as well. It is through being one to love and obey God, and loving and serving each other fully. It is through repenting of being double-minded and withholding from each and being self-serving.  

Right now, our Friday disciples' group, for example, is good at being one in throwing birthday parties. We can also pray that they would be one in suffering the Lord and growing in holiness through training in his word and service to God. As we pray for disciples, we also need to pray for unity among them.. 

While Jesus was with his disciples he protected them. And we should do the same while we are with disciples. But we also need to have the vision of them growing up to Jesus' level in unity and holiness. It doesn't mean to baby others, but to train in God's word as Jesus did. He says in verse 12, "While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed the destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled." Judas rejected Jesus and his word. It was not Jesus' failure. It fulfilled Scripture.

Look at verse 15. “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

The "evil one" refers to the Devil. His description as “evil” stands in contrast with the Father who is “holy”. It shows that he is divisive, deceitful and opposed to God. He has no good about him. That Jesus prays like this means that they do need protection from him. Judas let the Devil enter him and be used by him. The Devil is a real enemy who preys on people. Peter warned of the Devil to the early church members, saying, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:18). That may sound scary. How could you leave disciples out like sheep when there is a roaring lion prowling around looking for someone to devour? 

As we see in verses 13-14, the world will hate the disciples. He already warned them about this. The evil one may use the hatred of the world and its persecution to devour disciples. He tempts us to be proud and divides in the fellowship. But when they accept and hold to Jesus' words they can have joy and be secure and not devoured. They can stand firm through the hatred and persecution because Jesus gives them victory through his own victory. It means that when they believe his word and hold to it, they can actually have joy despite hatred. His words will make disciples secure in an insecure environment. They hold the promise of his return and of their reward from him. His word brings hope and this hope brings security and joy to overcome.

Third, the prayer for protection is a prayer for sanctification to send out into the word.

Jesus had in mind to protect them because he was going to send them out into the world, not merely be on the defensive. Let’s first look at verse 17. "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." He prayed for them to be sanctified. Sanctify has the meaning of setting apart as holy or cleaning, just as he used the word clean in chapter 15 with the vine and branch relation. By sanctifying the disciples, they would know how to respond in any situation and proactively do the work of God. And sanctity comes by the truth, to which Jesus says, "your word is truth." The word of God, which is the truth, sanctifies disciples. A lie makes us dirty and corrupt. But the truth sanctifies, making us clean and set apart for God’s work. The word of God is truth. He teaches us what is right and what is wrong. It corrects, disciplines, rebukes, trains and encourages us in all righteousness so that we may be equipped to do the work of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 

Recently, we studied the part of the book of Proverbs. Hasn't this been the theme throughout? The father and teacher in Proverbs taught his sons that the word of God disciplines and trains us in God's ways so that we would be wise to do what is right, to not to do what is wrong although we may face great temptations, having self-control, and to serve the Lord. But the foolish person is the one who doesn't let the word of God discipline and train him. He will end up getting devoured by the world and the evil one. 

Joseph in the book of Genesis is a good example. He kept God's word of promise that they would be a blessing to all nations when they obey God. When his master's wife tried to seduce him and sleep with her, he said that he could not sin against God and ran away from her, although it cost him his job and his freedom and he was thrown in jail for years. God's word sanctified him and he saved many lives and prepared his family to be a people of God through repentance and faith.

Jesus also was sanctified for them. The words"for them" tell us the meaning of being sanctified here a little more. It means to be in obedience to God all the time. As Jesus said in John 14:31, "but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me." He loved the father and obeyed everything he commanded, and he set the example for his disciples. And he sanctified himself for them because he was sending them out into the world! So as we pray for disciples, we pray for them to be sanctified so that they may be sent out into the world as Jesus was sent out and do the work of God. 

Look at verse 18. "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." Think about the timing of Jesus' prayer here. He didn't wait until his disciples were perfect and fully sanctified before leaving them. We know that they would all desert him when he gets arrested and crucified. And Peter would deny even knowing him the times! Yet it was when they were in this condition he left them! But he did so because he prayed for them. And we need to care for disciples in the same way Jesus did. We can't expect or wait till someone is fully perfect or sanctified before trusting them or sending them out. When disciples are sanctified, we can trust them although they are left in the world. And we can trust in the power of God's name which we revealed to them where give them God's word. It is important to give God's word which trains and sanctifies us, to pray, and then to send out by faith in God. So we need to keep this direction in giving the word of God as well: to sanctify. It is like the opening of the channel for the power of God's name to work to protect. And we can pray that God would sanctify them by his word. If even Jesus left with disciples in such a current condition, how about us? What is our faith in God in giving his word and in praying for disciples and sending them out? 

In today’s passage we learn how Jesus protected and sent out his disciples: by the word of God and prayer. Through the word of God he revealed God to them. And then he prayed for them. We see how the word of God must go together with prayer. Jesus didn’t just give the word of God by itself. He followed up with prayer. If we want to protect, sanctify and send out disciples, we have to pray. Someone once said that the word of God and prayer go together like french fries and ketchup. 

Personally, I learned that of the effectiveness and necessity of praying for disciples and this passage shows how I should pray for them. I was stressed a lot in the past. I really wanted to take disciples out of worldly environments all the time. I wanted to them to also want to get out, but it wasn't happening. So I have changed my prayer to match Jesus'. Not to take them out of the world, but to protect them by the power of God's name. And my part is to give them God's word and pray for them, trusting in God. Disciples belong to God. They are his. And he gives some to us. We have to trust in him by prayer. Disciples really need our help in this way, rather than having all kinds of wrong expectations or demands and burdening them and us. 

So let's pray and give his word by faith in him. Protection through God's word reveals God, brings unity in holiness, protects from the evil one, and sanctifies to send disciples into the world to do God's work. I repent based on today’s passage. Jesus sent them disciples into the world do the work, not take them out. I also have to pray not to take them out, but to send them in and do God's work. And Jesus didn't sanctify them fully first and then send them. He gave them God's word and sent them and then prayed for them and then left the world and went back to the Father. May the Lord help each of us to give God's word and to pray as Jesus did for disciples. Seem times we think that a good job and income or living in a good place will keep us safe and sound. But real protection comes from giving God's words and praying. May the Lord bless our messengers and invitations to the Spring Bible conference which is on March 30-April 1. May the Lord sanctify us and bring unity to us through us accepting and obeying his word.

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