Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are

"I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

- John 17:9-19

Yesterday we began reading what is known as the High Priestly Prayer, given at the end of the Last Supper:  Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.  I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me."

 "I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them."  My study bible points out that Jesus first prayed for Himself (see the earlier verses in the prayer, above), and secondly for them, the apostles.  Only after these does He pray for those whom You have given Me -- that is, all who will come to believe in Him.   The world (as used here) is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, my study bible explains; that is, those who prefer darkness to His light (see John 1:5).

"Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  Jesus once again expresses our communion and participation in Him and the Father, when He prays that all may be kept "through Your name."   Holy Father, my study bible says, is echoed in the eucharistic prayer of the Didache, the first teaching document of the Apostles:  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts" (Didache 10:2).

"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled."  The son of perdition ("destruction" -- implying total loss) is Judas Iscariot (6:70-71).  Old Testament prophecy alludes to Judas (Psalm 41:9; 109:2-13, Zechariah 11:12-13).  Judas becomes  type for all who will fall away in the last days (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, in which "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist).

"But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."   My study bible tells us here that inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Therefore, all believers attract the world's hatred.  The second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3) states, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  Those who are reborn in Christ have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (3:1-5).  But one's vocation is in the world, where they are protected by God against the evil one. 

"Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."  To sanctify means to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who interprets this verse as saying, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine." 

What is truth?  This is the question asked by Pilate to Jesus in Tuesday's reading.   In today's reading, Jesus prays to God the Father, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."  It's a hard-seeming concept to try to understand, but Jesus invites us into the truth in His Person, via participation in the Eucharist and thereby communion with Himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus prays, "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  To be kept in this Name is to be kept in the truth, the reality of the kingdom of God, the understanding of the love of God and how we may "live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28) in that love, in the reality of he presence of God in us and among us (Luke 17:21).  In this sense, God's Name is like a stamp on a passport, identifying the Kingdom of God to which one belongs.  Wherever we travel, we remain a citizen, and we bear the customs, the values, "the word" of which Jesus speaks.  In this sense, He asks the Father to "keep through Your name those whom You have given Me."   It is in this sense that He prays, "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."   Above all, if we read carefully, Jesus prays that all the faithful may be kept in this place, as citizens of this Kingdom, although we venture to a far country, so to speak, and be kept away from the evil one, who wishes nothing more than to draw us away from our loyalty to God, and our dwelling place in God's word and God's love.  We wish to remain, in the language of the Gospel, in His light at all times.   If Christ so prays as His fervent prayer for us to the Father, then how seriously must we take His prayer for ourselves?  Let us consider the freedom we're given to belong to this place, and to carry His love and His kingdom with us, and how precious that is.  He has asked us to share it with others, so that we may glorify in turn our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).