John 17:13-19

¹³"I am coming to You now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them. ¹⁴I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. ¹⁸As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified."

Jesus shows that the reason why He was so earnest in praying for His disciples was not that He was anxious about their future condition, but rather to provide a remedy for their anxiety. Jesus prays to His Father in the presence of His disciples, not because He needed any words, but to remove from them all doubt. This was for their joy, but Jesus says “My joy within them.” And that’s what we experience. Our joy is indeed His joy within us. Joy comes from Christ alone, and we receive it through faith alone.

V14 teaches us the reason for Jesus’ prayer. Jesus prays for His disciples because the world has hated them. He says that His disciples are not of the world, because all those whom He regenerates by His Spirit are separated from the world. Calvin says, “God will not let His sheep wander among wolves without showing Himself to be their shepherd.” The preservation of the disciples was certain – for Jesus asked the Father to protect them once Jesus had gone back to heaven. Because this request came from the Father’s will, as we have already noticed, the Father could not refuse it. In fact, it was not for the Father that Jesus ultimately prayed – but for His disciples, so that they might hear Jesus’ prayer and so be filled with joy. God does not take His people out of the world, because He does not wish them to be effeminate and slothful; but He delivers them from evil, that they may not be overwhelmed; for He wishes to fight through them and to have them to fight for Him.

The disciples are not like the world anymore, but like Jesus. Being like Jesus, the world will hate them just as it hated Him. But just as Jesus overcame the world, not by leaving it prematurely, but by finishing His course, even to the end of crucifixion, so the disciples would overcome, not by being plucked out of the world, but by God’s grace to protect them from the Evil One who rages against them and turns his children, the unbelieving world, to the hatred and persecution of all who would be like Jesus. Truly, the ancient Christian saying is faithful: “If we died together, we will also live together; if we endure, we will also reign together” (2 Timothy 2:11-12).

Jesus has just prayed that the Father would preserve His people, so that, just as Jesus had overcome a hostile world, they would overcome that same hostile world. In v17-18, He asks that the Father would sanctify them, consecrate them entirely to Himself, and defend them as His sacred inheritance. The work of redemption begins with the Father’s plan, which sent Jesus into the world to accomplish redemption; but even though the Son fully accomplished redemption, the plan is not yet complete; for even as the Father sent the Son into the world, so the Son has sent us into the world. The Father sent the Son to accomplish redemption, and the Son has sent us to give the news of that redemption. The Father sent the Son to suffer for redemption to be accomplished; the Son has sent us to suffer so that the effects of redemption might be spread (Colossians 1:24). In all these ways, we, as believers, mirror the activity of Christ – what an amazing and undeserved opportunity has been given to us by divine grace! To suffer for the gospel is, as the early Christian believers found out, a most precious gift (Acts 5:41)! But we must not forget the way in which we are sanctified as the Son was sanctified; it is only through the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26). Let us be people of the Word! If we would be like Christ, let us be people of the Word! It is through the Word of God that the Spirit of God changes us into the glorious image of Christ Jesus our Savior.

Finally, in v19 we learn that because Jesus consecrated Himself to the Father, His holiness comes to us; for as the blessing on the first-fruits is spread over the whole harvest, so the Spirit of God cleanses us by the holiness of Christ and makes us partakers of it. This is done by imputation (Jesus is our righteousness; we have become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)); but Jesus is also our sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30), because He has presented us to His Father in Himself, that His Spirit renews us to holiness. We are sanctified by faith.

John 17:10-12

¹⁰ "All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine. And glory has come to Me through them. ¹¹I 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. ¹²While 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 to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled."

Those whom the Heavenly Father has decreed to keep, He gives to Jesus – and as v10 declares, Jesus is glorified through them; through saving the elect, Jesus is glorified. That’s why He cares so much for us – He gets glory through us. God unites the elect, but it is not enough that men be agreed in some manner. We are to be unified as the Father and Son are unified. This truth has been difficult for me to process. I see the rest of this High Priestly Prayer having come true and clearly coming being answered, but the part dealing with the unity among believers seems anything but near fulfillment. Believers are very distant in doctrine and lifestyle application. Yet God is no less glorified.

In v12, we see that as long as Jesus was on earth, He Himself was keeping His disciples safe in their knowledge of God – with the exception of Judas Iscariot, the Son of Perdition, concerning whom God had long before determined final apostasy and judgment, and recorded it in the Scriptures. As we have noted before, Jesus mentions Judas specifically, so that none of His disciples would think that Judas’ loss had been out of the Father’s will, and therefore, that their own preservation was uncertain. This revelation is for their benefit. Finally, some confusion has arisen here regarding the predestination of Judas to evil behavior. Some say that he is not to blame since his fall was foretold. But this is poor logic, for we do not suggest that the children of Israel were innocent in their repeated falls into idolatry on account of Moses’ prediction (Deuteronomy 31-32). Nor do we suggest that Isaiah’s prophecy that the people would see and hear but not perceive or understand gives them excuse for their stubbornness in rebellion. So, Paul’s conclusion on this matter in Romans 9-11 stands firm and true and helpful. Man is predestined, based not on God’s foresight but upon His purpose, and yet man is accountable for his sin. This is part of the mysterious plan of God to give all kinds of men over to disobedience so that He could have mercy on them – to the praise and glory of His grace.

Help!

The builders of the wall under Nehemiah's guidance gathered to hear the word of the Lord (and have it explained - a great plug for the importance of expository preaching) in Nehemiah 8:1-3, 7-8. Upon hearing the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) read and explained to them over the course of six hours, perhaps for the first time for some, they wept and mourned (verse 9). They realized their sinfulness in light of God's holiness. But then the leaders of the people told them not to mourn, for this was a time of joy (verses 9-10). In fact, Nehemiah says, "Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." I understand that. I get the theology behind these instructions. But like them, I am in great distress (Nehemiah 9:37).

I am saddened by my continuing sin, the patterns of sin that come and go, ebbing and waning their way in and out of my life. Sometimes I am strong in the Lord and in His mighty power; other times I am just as weak and frail in living for the Lord as I was when I first believed. This is painful, and rightly so. The Holy Spirit convicts, and I am convicted. Yet, I also know the grace and mercy and compassion and steadfast love of the Lord, in the light of the cross and in the light of His great faithfulness in keeping His covenant promises to those who believe in Jesus. So I ought to be filled with joy - The joy of the Lord is my strength. I'm having trouble figuring out the application of this truth. How can I mourn and weep over my sinfulness and be joyful at the amazing grace of God at the same time? What does it look like?

It looks like a life of humble repentance and service while at the same time rejoicing in the presence of God, and His many, many blessings. It looks like the tax collector who stood far back, beating his breast while he prayed, "Have mercy on me, a sinner," while at the same time being like the young calf released from the stall to frolic in the field for the first time. But how can I put it into practice in my life? Why do I feel down?

The folks in Nehemiah 10 responded by writing a covenant - they promised to keep themselves from evil. I could do that, but it would be foolish - for I know that I am a sinful man. Even though God has begun a good work in me, and even though He will see it through to completion, I will continue to sin, though perhaps less, throughout the rest of my earthly life. It's a rather depressing thought, but I suppose I must consider this conundrum as a form of suffering, and like Paul in Romans 8:18, conclude that "our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

Hebrews 12:1-4 is an apt conclusion, but I'm open to hear your thoughts on the matter:

"1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

John 17:6-9

⁶"I have revealed You to those whom You gave Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me and they have obeyed Your word. ⁷Now they know that everything You have given Me comes from You. ⁸For 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. ⁹I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given Me, for they are Yours."

Again Jesus takes hope in God’s faithfulness to Him through the doctrine of election. The Covenant of Redemption is what brought Jesus to do the work God had for Him. There were a specific people Jesus worked for – not one less. And Jesus completed this work to perfection. He speaks in prayer here as if His work is already done. In fact, the active part (life) is done. Only the passive part (death) remains. We see a glimpse here of the ordo salutis – the order of salvation. First comes election. Second comes regeneration. Third comes faith and repentance; faith cannot be genuine apart from repentance. Fourth comes justification. Fifth comes adoption. The list goes on. Sixth comes sanctification; seventh is perseverance. Eighth is death and ninth is glorification.

V9 is challenging to many. Jesus asks nothing but what is agreeable to the will of the Father, because He pleads with the Father on behalf of those only whom the Father Himself willingly loves savingly. He openly declares that He does not pray for the world, because He has no concern in salvation for the world – only for His own flock, which He received from the hand of the Father. But this might be thought to be absurd; for no better rule of prayer can be found than to follow Christ as our Guide and Teacher. Now, we are commanded to pray for all, (1 Timothy 2:8) and Christ Himself afterwards prayed indiscriminately for all, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The prayers we offer for all are still limited to the elect of God. We ought to pray that this man, and that man, and every man, may be saved, and thus include the whole human race, because we cannot yet distinguish the elect from the reprobate; and yet, while we desire the coming of the kingdom of God, we likewise pray that God may destroy His enemies.

There is only this difference between the two cases: we pray for the salvation of all whom we know to have been created after the image of God, and who have the same nature with ourselves; and we leave to the judgment of God those whom He knows to be reprobate. But in the prayer here related, there was some special reason, which ought not to be reproduced as an example; for Christ does not now pray from the mere impulse of faith and of love towards men, but, entering into the heavenly sanctuary, He places before His eyes the secret judgments of the Father, which are concealed from us, so long as we walk by faith. God chooses out of the world those whom He desires to make co-heirs with His Son of life and all creation, and this distinction is not made according to the merit of men, but depends alone on His good-pleasure and purpose. For those who think that the cause of election is in men must begin with faith. Now, Christ expressly declares that they who are given to Him belong to the Father; and it is certain that they are given so as to believe, and that faith flows from this act of giving. If the origin of faith is this act of giving, and if election comes before it in order and time, what remains but that we acknowledge that those whom God wishes to be saved out of the world are elected by free grace? Now since Christ prays for the elect only, it is necessary for us to believe the doctrine of election, if we wish that He should plead with the Father for our salvation.

After laying out the basic intent of His prayer, Jesus begins to give the reasons for His praying in this way, and for these specific persons – and the fundamental reason goes back to the Father’s will, together with the effects that it has produced. Now, what has this will accomplished? First, as the Son is One with the Father, and always in perfect agreement with Him, the will of the Father has been brought to concrete reality through the effectual working of the Son. Remember in the prologue how Jesus, the “Word of God,” brings to reality God’s intention? So here, when God planned to redeem a wayward people to Himself, it was Jesus who actually redeemed them, and brought them back to a true knowledge of God: or, in His own words, He “revealed” the Father’s name to them. Within the Trinity there is always perfect unity – and so the Father’s will inevitably finds its concrete expression in the Son’s activity. So God’s will flows into Jesus’ life and death. The effects of the Father’s will do not stop with the Son’s ministry; for flowing down, from the Father through the Son, is the effect of this sovereign will on the people He has chosen. The Father selected a people, Jesus revealed the Father to them, and now they know that everything Jesus has done came from the Father. The words of God were in the Father’s heart and revealed through the Son’s ministry on earth; and now, they are received and held fast by the people God has chosen. We could sum this wonderful reality up by saying that everything good, in this life and the next, is from the Father and comes down through the Son, because of His work of redemption about to be accomplished on the cross. And this work is so powerful that it cannot fail to secure eternal life, which is nothing other than the true knowledge of God, for everyone for whom it was intended.