Asking on Our Behalf

 

“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours” (John 17:9).

 

Jesus desires that we receive His words as they are given to us, that we allow them to be implanted within our souls (James 1:21) and that through them we partake of the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4). When we receive the Word of Jesus, when we receive Jesus Christ the Word, we partake of the Lord’s Table in sacred communion, we eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:53). We can live in the assurance that the Eucharist is indeed sacramental – of course it is – we need not fear to partake of Christ in all the ways He comes to us – O we need not fear!

 

There is a distinction between those whom the Father has given to Jesus and the world in the Upper Room. We saw this in John 15:18 – 16:4, and we see it again in the Holy of Holies of Chapter 17. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (17:16). See the echo of 15:18-16:4 in 17:14, "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.”

 

However, we must not misread this distinction, to do so is to imperil our calling in Christ and our mission to the world. If we would learn to receive the Word as the Word is spoken and written, the possibility of misunderstanding would be lessened, but we have a proclivity to speculate rather than submit to the Word of Jesus in obedience. In other words, we would rather speculate than obey. Seldom does understanding dawn without obedience. Faith is less about understanding so that we may obey; it is not even obeying so that we may understand; it is obeying that we may please our Lord Jesus. If, in our obeying, we are given a measure of understanding, let us be thankful.

 

Jesus is praying for us in the Upper Room and we ought to be attentive and obedient to what He is praying – there are treasures beyond measure in John 17, this is a portal into eternity, it is where the ages meet, it is beyond time and space, and yet it invades time and space. The Son of Man ascends and descends in the Holy of Holies of John 17.

 

So that we do not misunderstand Jesus asking on our behalf, and not on behalf of the world, let us consider the following:

 

The very next day, in the midst of the agony of His sacrificial death offering, Jesus will pray for the world, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

 

The central verse of the Gospel is found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

 

Paul writes, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19).

 

Why then does Jesus pray for us in John 17 and not for the world?

 

There is more than one reason, it seems to me, but the particular reason that I call our attention to now is this, Jesus prays for those whom the Father has given Him so that those whom the Father has given Him may give themselves to the world, for God so loves the world.

 

On the one hand Jesus distinguishes Himself and us from the world (17:13 – 16), but on the other hand Jesus sends us into the world just as the Father sent Him into the world. “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (17:18).

 

While we will, the Lord willing, reflect more deeply on our mission to the world and church in forthcoming meditations on 17:13 – 23, for now let us be clear that Jesus prays for us so that we may pray for others; that Jesus gives Himself for us so that we may give ourselves for others; that Jesus desires us to know our Father so that we may bring others to know our Father; that Jesus sanctifies Himself for us and desires our sanctification, so that we may invite others into the sanctification of the Trinity.

 

Jesus prays for us and not for the world, so that we may be His offerings to the world, not that we might view ourselves as a privileged people better than others. Yes, we are indeed privileged, but the privilege is that of a lamb selected from a flock to be an offering. We must always, always, always, remember and affirm that Jesus sends us as the Father sent Him. This is our birthright, our inheritance, our calling, and the only privilege that matters in eternity. How glorious are the words of Joseph:

 

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them” (Genesis 50:20 – 21).

 

John 17 encompasses a holy charge given to those whom the Father has given to Jesus, Jesus prays for those given this charge. The Father gives us to Jesus, and Jesus gives us to the world and to one another.

 

The glory of John 17 may be euphoric, but it is also weighty, it is the glory of the Cross, the Lamb…found in the vortex of eternity pressing into time and space. There is Divine thunder in the words, “I ask on their behalf.”