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 the 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 

 

We have currently been reading through Jesus' Farewell Discourse, given to the disciples at the Last Supper, and following as they moved to another location.  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 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 have will 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 the authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."   Verses 1-26 of chapter 17 of John's Gospel make up a prayer, frequently called the High Priestly Prayer of Christ, as it contains the basic elements of prayer which a priest offers to God when a sacrifice is about to be made.  These things consist of glorification, to which Christ refers in verses 3-5, 25, remembrance of God's works (verses 9, 11, 15, 20, 21, 24), and a declaration of the offering itself (verses 1, 5).   My study bible explains that the hour has come signifies that Christ is Lord over time, establishing His voluntary acceptance of the Cross.  It says that glorify refers to the redemption of all creation that will be accomplished through the Cross and Resurrection.  This is the purpose for which Christ as sent into the world.  In this redemption, both Father and Son are glorified.  It adds that this is why 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."  Here my study bible comments that the knowledge of the only true God is far more than intellectual understanding.  Rather, it includes participation in God's divine life and in communion with God.  Therefore, eternal life is an ongoing, loving knowledge 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."  My study bible explains that Christ's work cannot ever be separated from who He is.  Thus, this statement regarding the work which You have given Me to do is a one each believer can make at the end of life, no matter how long or short one's life might be.

"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."  Jesus refers to the apostles when He speaks of the men whom You have given Me.  The apostles are the ones through whom God's word comes to us, my study bible reminds us.  This handing down of God's word to successive generations is called apostolic tradition.  My study bible tells us that Isaiah prophesied that in the days of the Messiah, the knowledge of the Name of God would be revealed (Isaiah 52:6).  Jesus declares, "I have manifested Your name . . .."  In the Old Testament times, the phrase "the Name" was a reverent substitution for God's Divine Name "Yahweh," considered too sacred to pronounce.  This fuller revelation of the Name is given to those who believe in Christ, for Christ manifested the Name not simply by declaring the Father, but 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."  My study bible notes here that Christ first prayed for Himself (in verses 1-5), and secondly for them, the apostles (verses 6-19).  Only then He prays for those whom You have given Me -- that is, all who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  Here, the world is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light.  

 

"Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  In the Didache, there is a eucharistic prayer (Didache 10:2), which echoes Christ's words:  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts."

Jesus prays to the Holy Father, "I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours."    My study bible tells us that in this instance, Jesus refers to the world as those who are in rebellion against God; specifically, those who prefer darkness to God's light.  This is in keeping with the understanding of the terminology of royal names and houses, in the sense that the devil has been referred to (also in John's Gospel) as "the ruler of this world."  Please see John 12:31, 14:30, 16:10-11.  This might seem a bit disconcerting and confusing, as we also are to understand that Christ goes to the Cross for the redemption of the world, even for His enemies.  When He gave His new commandment, "Love one another as I have loved you," this is the way we are to understand it, the measure of Christ's love, that He would die even for His enemies.  How is this possible for us to reconcile?  Is there a contradiction here, in that Jesus would pray for His own -- and those to come who will believe in Him -- but not for "the world" that is in rebellion against Him and the Father?  This is something important for us to discern.  It's important to note the different senses of time that are inherent in Christ's teachings.  Earlier He has taught that the Holy Spirit will be sent from the Father after Christ's Ascension, and that the Holy Spirit will "convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8).  But let us note that this work of the Holy Spirit is such that it spans the age which Christ has initiated, the whole of what might rightly be called the "end times," which has progressed for some two millenia.  We are not to understand this conviction as something we explicitly know in some worldly sense, or something we -- as creatures, human beings -- can put a time limit on or fully comprehend.  God's judgment is God's judgment, and the heart has depths that only God knows:  whether sinful or righteous.  Secondly, Christ also came to redeem, to forgive sins through grace, and that is also something we cannot fully understand from our human perspective, as creatures rather than Creator.  Do we know the depths of the heart, or how a person might come to repentance, how their lives are going to evolve?  We can say none of these things.  So, it is in the fullness of this understanding that Christ can say that He does not pray to the Father for the world, but rather prays for His own.  For He goes to the Cross in order to save all -- to offer the hand of salvation to all.  But as creatures, our own work in cooperation in God requires of us one thing:  to give our assent, to accept God's work in us.  The work of the Holy Spirit, the Helper, in us seems to me to work at such a depth that we are not necessarily entirely conscious of it, but yet there is an assent within us, a consent to the love of God, and a mutual return of that love.  And at least from the perspective of the Lord in the Gospels, nevertheless, although at such a depth as to be even something of which we are not entirely aware until it comes to us as conviction -- and, of course, experience in this may vary -- this is accounted to us as acceptance, our "yes" of belief.  It is so linked to loyalty and love as to be -- in my experience and estimation at least -- inseparable.  It is the same as the love we feel for others which we can't necessarily explain away from merely the rational mind or intellectual choice:  all we know is that we love, even at a depth we can't necessarily name.  Yet this still accounts to us as assent, as choice.  It's just that the choosing happens within a depth of the self, and we are so used to living on the surface of life, even on the "surface" of what really constitutes the fullness of ourselves.  There is also a sense of time passing in terms of repentance, coming to love and embrace God, in the sense in which we can't rightfully know all the steps necessary in repentance to get from point A to point B.  So often repentance is a complex set of steps, of psychological change, and of gradual transformation.  This is something we cannot predict nor map out, as it takes a divine perspective to fathom and understand.  We are capable of discerning this movement only in hindsight, and possibly only for ourselves or from another who has experienced such depth of change.  So let us consider Christ's love, given to all, but specified as returned by some, by those who will love and welcome the light, and resisted by those who prefer the darkness.  And this is our world in which we live, and we are given that light to share in, in which to participate, and to reflect and shine into the darkness, as did He.  We don't know what effects that will have.  We can only seek to know the work that Christ gives us to do (John 6:28-29).  It is for this He gives us His commands to follow Him.