Preserved by divine prayer: Meditation for August 3-9
John 17:13–19 (NASB)
Jesus continued to pray as He walked with His Disciples from the Upper Room where He observed the last Passover meal, to the garden of Gethsemane to wait for His captors.
This is the Word of God. May the Spirit of Truth give us wisdom and insight to receive what has been conveyed through His Word by His Inspiration.
Who or what can separate us from the Love of God?!
17:13 "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My Joy made full in themselves.
After confessing to His Father that He had kept everyone who was given to His Care, Jesus continued to pray to His Father about His Disciples on a more direct and personal level. He communed in prayer with His Father concerning their safety and preservation in light of their perseverance in the world without His physical presence with them. But His prayer had a more dynamic aspect beyond safety and preservation, concerning their reaction or response to these drastic changes.
Having revealed to them the imminence of His Suffering, Death, and Resurrection, having made them aware of His impending return to His Father, and Having taught them about the world's hostilities toward them because of Him, Jesus prayed that His Father would secure them in the safety of His Care so that His Joy would be real and complete in them. In other words, Jesus prayed that His Disciples would have much more than mere endurance. He prayed that they would be filled with the same Joy that He had even as He was ready to go to Death on the Cross, in obedience to His Father's Will.
Jesus' prayer was quite remarkable. He prayed while He was still with them. They heard everything He said to His Father, their Father. So He prayed that His Joy would flourish in them so that they would not be victimized by their own feelings of desperation. He did not pray that they would get excited. He prayed that His Joy would cultivate divine strength in them.
17:14-16
14"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15"I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
16"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Jesus had a solid reason for praying this way. He had already given them the Truth He had received from His Father. He had taught them about God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Truth about God, His Love, His Grace, His Mercy, and about the world which is lost in sin. They knew and understood the Truth as Christ revealed it to them.
He had explained to them about the hostilities of the world toward Him and those who are His. But He also assured them of His Victory over the world and the evil forces which seek to undermine the Truth. They no longer belonged to the world because they have been separated unto God out of the world.
He had shown them a better way of living than as captives of their human condition. He assured them that they are the sheep of His pasture; He is their shepherd, their only Gate, their living Water, their Bread of Life, their only Way, the only Truth, and their only Life. He served them, loved them, and presided over them as Savior, Master, and Lord. He gave them eternal life and continued to guide them. He assured them that He had chosen them out of the world.
Nevertheless, Jesus did not want His Father to remove them out of the world just because He was returning to His Father. His mission was accomplished but the Disciples were just beginning to get into a life of service to God to continue the Works of Jesus. So Jesus prayed that God would keep them safe from the evil forces and the hateful world, securing them by the Power of the Truth and by the preserving Power of His Name. He did not pray that His Disciples would not face trials and tribulations common to men. He simply prayed that they would be kept from the wicked influences and attacks of the evil one and the enticing moral corruptions of the world.
17:17-19
17"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
18"As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
19"For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
Jesus prayed for His Disciples because He was sending them into the hostile world to offer Christ to the lost. He was sending them to offer salvation in Christ even as His Father sent Him into the world to save the lost. He prayed for them because they were commissioned to go into the world as He returned to His Father. He prayed for them because they were set apart to continue what He started.
Jesus prayed that God would set His Disciples apart in the Truth; that is the Truth Which is the Word; That is the Word Who is Jesus Himself. Essentially, Jesus' petition to His Father was that His Disciples would be set apart in Him to continue the Work for which He Himself was set apart. Hence, the protection, safety, preservation, and commission of the Disciples were the subject matters of divine conversation so that the Joy of the Son would be real and fulfilled in them.
Jesus Joyfully endured the Cross in order to fulfill His Father's Will. He absorbed Pain, suffering, shame, and humiliation at the hands of wicked men. But nothing or no one stopped Him from glorifying His Father on the Cross, in the Grave, and beyond the Grave through His glorious Resurrection.
Now that Jesus sent His Disciples into the world just as He was sent by the Father into the human arena, the Disciples share in the sacred Commission of revealing God to the lost through the proclamation of the Gospel. However, the redeemed are not sent directly from heaven as the Son was. Instead, they are called-out from the mass of humanity, transformed by the Power of God according to His good pleasure, and are set apart to carry out the ministry of reconciliation.
At this point in His prayer, Jesus reflected on His mission as the One Who is set apart for the task for which He had been born. Indeed, Jesus embraced the sacred Commission that was given to Him by His Father. If Jesus' Commission from His Father is to continue, then His commissioned Disciples and servants must be consumed by an unquenchable dedication to continue His Work by the strength of the Truth and by the Power of His Name, enduring all hostilities through God's safe-keeping and preservation. Driven by the Joy of Christ, God's redeemed children will continue the Work of Jesus Christ through godly behavior, Christian action, and sacred service.
A life that is set apart to continue the Work of Christ, will reflect the Spirit of Christ and the enduring essence of His Truth. A life that is set apart in Christ, is also a life filled with the Joy of Christ.
Notes/Applications
Out of this passage emerges the paradox that characterizes the life of the Disciples of Jesus Christ. This paradox was first lived by the Lord Himself and then passed on to all who would be redeemed and called into His service. In this sacred Petition, the Son interceded with His Father on behalf of His Disciples, so that they might have His Joy in the midst of suffering, set apart in the Truth, in Him and for Him; for He is the Truth, He is the Word.
The life of the Lord’s Disciple is distinguished by an underlying, deeply rooted Joy. Redeemed by the Lord, set free from the burden of sin and the penalty of death, and raised to a new and abundant life, we cannot remain silent in the face of such a miracle. We live and speak the truth, because, we act, move, and have our being only in Christ. Like Paul, we rejoice in a life of service to Jesus in spite of hostilities and in the midst of suffering and persecution, in a world which does not welcome us and rejects the Gospel. Like King David, we Joyfully shout in spite of hostilities and in the midst of persecution and suffering: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Secure in the faith that has been imparted by the Holy Spirit, we abide safe and secure within the preserving Arms of our Shepherd.
The Joy of Christ in us does not disconnect us from the harsh realities of the world. This is not a disguised denial. Jesus acknowledged that the world would hate His Disciples just as it hates Him. But this Joy is able to express a profound gratitude and satisfaction in the Lord from within our hearts, in the midst of a world that looks down on the person who has been preserved in the Savior’s arms.
This paradox, Joy in the midst of hostilities, was apparent in the life of Jesus Christ. When as Disciples, we trust the living Lord and are enlightened by the truth imparted by the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to follow our Lord in the same manner with the same passion with which He honored His Father. When we are gripped by the redeeming Work of the Spirit, the hostilities of the world no longer matter. Our focus is fixed on a better, more sublime, and sacred reality that makes this world’s suffering pale in comparison. We are urged to focus on serving our Lord, knowing that we are preserved and kept safe.
Such an all-consuming passion affirms, that as the followers of Jesus Christ, we have been redeemed, called out of the world, and have been isolated and made fit for the task set before us. We are called to glorify God by fulfilling His Will as He orders our steps and directs our journey. After all, His Word is the lamp unto our feet and the light unto the path laid before us.
This is the sacred mission to which we are commissioned and for which we live. This is the prayer of Jesus for us, so eloquently uttered in these Holy Words. This is the Joy of Christ made complete in us. This is the Joy of Christ fueling our life of service to God.
This is the Joy of Christ in the midst of facing hostilities from the enemies of the Gospel. This is the Joy of Christ offering Christ; the Whole Christ to the whole world. This is the Joy of Christ, reflecting Jesus Christ before the world even as Jesus Himself revealed God through the Words He spoke. This is the sacred life of the Disciple of Christ, redeemed, preserved, commissioned, and blessed. This is the life of Christ in the child of God. This is the life Christ lives in us; joyful and glorifying God.
