"Being Disciples in the World" -- John 17:13-19

Introduction

I have always enjoyed military history. I enjoy the strategy, the execution of a plan, the courage and the unexpected things that sometimes make a big difference between victory and defeat.

One of the aspects of the military I find interesting is the Special Forces. To be Special Forces member, a soldier has to endure intense physical training and advanced weapons and fighting techniques. Well-trained and equipped, such soldiers are secretly placed behind enemy lines, to disrupt enemy communications, gain control of key areas of the battlefield to prevent enemy reinforcements and to support local resistance when applicable.

Such an assignment involves a high degree of risk. Hopefully, the element of surprise is with the Special Forces, but it’s never certain what they’re getting into as they deploy into their mission. After all, surrounded by the enemy, the forces area always outnumbered, always surrounded, and always at risk of being captured, wounded or killed with no immediate support from friendly forces.

Still, Special Forces understand the risks; it’s what they train for, what they expect. Nevertheless, they go into their assignment with confidence that they will not only survive, but they will be successful.

In the same way, Jesus’ disciples have spent the last three years with special training from Christ. They have been taught His ways and His words. They have been given assignments that they have successfully completed. Walking with Jesus has given them a confidence in their abilities and their understanding of what is expected of them.

And now they are about to be on their own, at least from the perspective of having Jesus with them. Jesus is going to the cross. He will be crucified, resurrected and will return to the Father. They will have the Holy Spirit to guide them, but there will be small wait for that moment. Even filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples will be in the world, a place that hates them. Surrounded by the enemy, always in danger, Jesus asks God in this part His High Priestly Prayer that God will sanctify His disciples.

Central Truth: Jesus’ prayer for His disciples is to empower and protect them in a hostile world.

Jesus’ prayer regarding His disciples in the world:

1. Comes while Jesus is still in the world (13)

Throughout the night, Jesus has told the disciples things in order that they may have joy, peace and courageous. Jesus has already asked the Father to bring glory to Jesus and to protect the disciples. He has reminded the disciples through this prayer that they are in fellowship with the Father and they have eternal life as a result of that relationship.

Now, as Jesus continues to consider the coming ministry of the Holy Spirit through the disciples, He wants them again to realize the joy that comes from fellowship with Him. He wants them to know how pleased He is with them. And he wants that same joy to be infused with them. He wants them to know and experience that same joy as they prepare for their next phase of ministry.

1. Recognizes that the Word separates us from our world (14)

The next part of His prayer is to remind the disciples they are no longer worldly men; they are followers of Jesus Christ, children of the Father, about to be empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit. This is because they have received the Word from Jesus. The Word is a message that the world hates, and the world as a result hates the disciples. There is a profound difference for these men from the lives they lived before Jesus called them to this day and the days to come. They were once comfortable in their world, but now they are only comfortable in Jesus’ world.

Jesus has demonstrated how someone can relate to the world while not being of the world. The way Jesus viewed the world, the way Jesus walked and talked in the world, the way Jesus ministered in the world—all this is a radical way of living and seeing and being, and the disciples are expected to follow this new way because they have received the Word, and are therefore transformed. Not of the world, but in the world. Shock troops deep in enemy territory, they will do great things to make the Gospel real to the world around them.

1. Recognizes they need protecting (15-16)

In v. 15, Jesus makes a statement that is so important to us. He say, “My prayer is not that You take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one.”

Jesus does not want nor does He expect us to come out of the world in which we live. He wants us to be intimately involved in the day-to-day living of life in our world. The difference is not in the living, but in the way the disciples will live and relate to their world.

I have always had a problem with Christians who try to remove themselves from the world. From the Christian hermits that retreated into the desert to pray and contemplate, to the current Christians who remove their children from public schools has always seemed to me to be in direct contradiction of being in the world. If I remove myself from the daily living of life, how can I allow the Spirit of God to have an impact in the lost world around me?

Jesus expects us to be actively involved in our world. He expects us to be building relationships, bridging gaps, sharing our faith and our hope, in order that the Gospel may be furthered and made more real in our world. We “are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:14-15).

Since we are in the world, we will be opposed by the prince of this world. Satan will battle us every step of the way, trying to thwart our efforts, trying to cause us to stumble and fall, thus negating our message. Satan is a wily opponent, not one to be taken lightly, and Jesus knows better than anyone how determined and consistent an enemy Satan is. That’s why Jesus prays that the Father protect the disciples from the evil one.

1. Is that they continue to be set apart for God’s glory (17-19)

The prayer to sanctify the disciples is a prayer to separate them from the world—to make them holy, set apart for God’s service. Paul reminds us in Romans 12:1-2 that we are to be made holy, and in Philippians 2:13, Paul reminds us that God is working “in us to will and to act according to His will.” This prayer is for God to work in the lives of the disciples to place them under God’s protection, and to separate them from the world even though they are in the world. This separation is done through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, shaping us and conforming us to God’s way.

But more than that, Jesus reminds us of the intimate relationship between Himself and the disciples. Jesus has already sanctified Himself and, as a result, they, too, are sanctified, set apart for God’s service. They are made holy, they are made God’s vessels. The glory of the Father is now seen in the life of Jesus, and that life is sanctified, and that sanctified life also sanctifies the lives of His disciples.

Conclusion

Jesus’ keen awareness of the disciples’ relationship with Him and the world caused Jesus to lift them up in prayer so that they could remain effective in a world that hated them. He didn’t ask that they be removed from that world, but only that they be protected and effective while in the world. By His grace, He makes them holy and makes them effective in this world in which they remain.

That’s Jesus’ hope for us today. We are not called to shut ourselves off from the world that neither understands nor wants to understand the Word. Instead, He wants us to be actively involved in the world, as He mentioned in the Great Commission. We need His protection, we need His guidance as we go into the world and make disciples. That’s why we obey Him and trust Him. More than ever, we need God’s protection and the Spirit’s leadership.

Walk in the light as He is in the light, because the world is a dark place, an evil place. But we have overcome because the One in us is greater than the one who is in the world.