Jesus proved faithful in revealing God the Father to those the Father gave Him. He not only spoke, but was, the Word of God. These men, the twelve God gave to Him, received God’s words and ultimately believed that God the Father sent Jesus. As Jesus finished His earthly sojourn, He petitioned the Father to keep them One as They were, to keep them from the evil one and to sanctify them by His truth.
One As We Are
His petition is not for the world. He is praying for the ones His Father gave Him from within the world. These men were God’s and God gave them to Jesus. Jesus is glorified in them. He asked the Father to keep them through His name. It was important that they be one, just as Jesus and the Father were and are, one. Jesus kept them, all but Judas who was lost in fulfillment of the scripture. Now however, He was leaving and prayed in this manner while on the earth, so they would have His joy fulfilled in them. He wanted these men united as one with Himself and the Father.
Kept From the Evil One
Jesus did not petition the Father to take them out of the world. Yes, the world would hate them just as it hated Jesus, and they would have lots of trouble. He had taught them to turn to Himself when in trouble because He had overcome the world. Therefore, instead, He prays to the Father, in the agony of His soul, “keep them from the evil one.”
Sanctify Them
He finally asks the Father to sanctify His disciples. It is God’s truth which will set them apart as God’s children, for His purposes. His word is the truth. As the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus was sending His disciples into the world. Jesus kept Himself separated unto God, in order for the disciples to be able also to be set apart by the truth. It is for their sakes that He has sanctified Himself. Jesus, ending His earthly sojourn, petitioned the Father to keep the disciples in Oneness with Them, to keep them from the evil one and to sanctify them by His truth.
