I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours

 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.  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."

- John 17:1-11

In our current readings, Jesus and the disciples are at the Last Supper, Christ's final Passover Supper in His worldly life as Jesus.  He is speaking to them what is known as the Farewell Discourse.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus said to them,  "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father."  Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?"  They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'?  We do not know what He is saying."  Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  And in that day you will ask Me nothing.  Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.  These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.  In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.  Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."  His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!  Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You.  By this we believe that You came forth from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone.  And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 

 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."  Christ's discourse in chapter 17 is called the High Priestly Prayer.  It contains the basic elements of prayer that a priest offers to God before a sacrifice is about to be made.  These elements are, according to my study bible:  glorification (vv. 3-5, 25), the remembrance of God's words (vv. 2, 6-8, 22, 23), intercession on others' behalf (vv. 9, 11, 15, 20, 21, 24), and a declaration of the offering itself (vv. 1, 5).  Christ begins the prayer with the statement, the hour has come.  My study bible says this this signifies that Christ is Lord over time, a statement of His voluntary going to the Cross.  Glorify, my study bible notes, refers to the redemption of all creation which is accomplished through the Cross and Resurrection, the very purpose for which Christ was sent into the world.  Also, in this redemption, the Father and Son are glorified.   It is for this reason that the Cross, a sign of death, is glorified in the Church as "life-giving" and the "weapon of peace."

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."  To know . . . the only true God is much more than an intellectual understanding.  We as true faithful participate in His divine life and in communion with Him.  Therefore, my study bible notes, eternal life is an ongoing, loving knowing of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit.

"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."  The work of Christ cannot be separated from who He is, His identity.   This verse, my study bible tells us, is a statement which each believer can make at the end of life, no matter how long or short.

"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."  The men whom You have given Me refers to the apostles.  It is the apostles through whom the word of God comes to all of us.  The handing down of God's word to future generations is called apostolic tradition.  Isaiah prophesied that in the days of the Messiah, the knowledge of the Name of God would be revealed (Isaiah 52:6).  Jesus refers to Your name.  In the times of the Old Testament, the phrase "the Name" was a reverent way of substituting God's Name as written in the Scripture,  "Yahweh", as this was considered too sacred to pronounce.  My study bible says that the fuller revelation of the Name was given to those who believe in Christ, as Christ manifested the Name not simply by declaring the Father only, but also by being the very presence of God and sharing the Name with Him.

"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."  First Christ has prayed for Himself (in verses 1-5), and then He begins to pray for the apostles, for them.   In Wednesday's reading, we will cover vv. 20-26, in which Jesus prays for those whom You have given Me; that is all those who will come to believe in Him.  Here, my study bible says, the world refers to that portion of humanity which is in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to His light.

"Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  In the Didache, the first known teaching document of the Church, there is an echo of Christ' address here to God the Father, in the Eucharistic Prayer:  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts" (Didache 10:2).

Jesus prays to the Father, "I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours."   We don't often like to hear or consider this kind of language.  Christ died for everyone, didn't He?  Didn't He forgive everyone from the Cross?  What we can consider form this language is that Jesus is pointing out to us -- through this prayer to the Father -- that there is a clear delineation in the world.  Jesus has come to save the world, out of love for the world.  The Evangelist writes, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (3:16-17).  So what is this "world" that Christ specifically say He does not pray to the Father for?  There is a distinction in the created world between that which desires the salvation and redemption Christ has come to give, and those who do not.  What has been offered to us are the words and works of God the Father through Jesus Christ as He lived in the world.  Jesus prays, " 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."  There is a seamless kind of connection here, as Jesus has maintained through all of His preaching and ministry, between those who can accept the word of the Father through Christ, and their belonging in faith to Christ.  There's no disconnect between one and the other, no abstraction of "principles" or "values" separate from the relationships entailed in vine, vine-dresser, and branches (15:1-5).  We may experience this in our lives as a deepening, broadening, growing experience.  But Christ's words are clear:  if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father (14:9).  As we come to "know" God, in the same sense as we come to know other persons, our eternal life becomes fuller, more solid, deepening within us, because of this connection between the word planted in us, and Christ, and the Father.  We take confidence in it, and this is the nature of faith, a deepening trust which flows in us.  It is something like a hose that fills more fully with water, the greater and greater pressure created by a more generous flow that makes the hose into something that seems solid, the image of a confidence which grows with that solidity and firmness, like a rock we can build a house on.  Psalm 91:14 reads, "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name."  This is our faith.  Christ does not pray for those who reject this solid foundation of life within the branches and the Godhead of Father, Son, and Spirit,  We may, of course, pray for the salvation of the world, the mission of Christ.  But He makes a distinction that teaches us all about the nature of our choice and the nature of love.  No one is compelled or manipulated into this faith; instead, it depends on the condition of our hearts and our will to choose love.