Jesus' Prayer For Us

been there all night long.

2. Jesus’ first prayer for us is a prayer for protection. Of course, unlike that young boy, we have the benefit of knowing in advance that our Father is there to protect us; although just like the young boy, we don’t always see our Father guarding us. Jesus asks the Father to “protect” us. He prays, “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” A little later he prays, “I ask you to protect them from the evil one.” Eugene Peterson translates the word “protect” as “guard,” and this is a helpful way of seeing it, especially when we think of that father watching over his son while the son was in the woods and thought he was alone.

3. Against what are we being protected? Jesus asks that we receive protection from the evil one, that we would be protected when faced with temptation, opposition, persecution, etc. He takes as inevitable that we will face such things.

4. But he doesn’t ask that we be removed from these things. As Jesus says, “I do not ask you to take them out of the world.” But while we are in the world, he wants us to be protected and guarded. Now the word that we translate here as “protect” or “guard” is tereo, which can also mean “to preserve.” Jesus wants us to be preserved while we are in the world. Jesus’ prayer for protection is a prayer that the disciples would remain in – and be shaped by – the revelation of God that they have received through Jesus once Jesus is no longer physically present. Jesus says, “Protect them in your name that you have given me.” This is the same as saying “Father, help them to remain true to what they have received from me. No matter what they face in this world, no matter how the evil one attacks them, help them to remain in me. Preserve them, protect them, and guard them.”

5. The purpose of this request is also to ensure the unity of the faith community, which mirrors the unity of Father and Son. As Jesus also prays, “Protect them in your name . . . so that they may be one, as we are one.” “It is for the preservation of this unity in the face of the cosmic power of evil that Jesus seeks God’s help.” The church’s life is therefore entrusted to God. “What God is committed to do,” someone says, “is to preserve the oneness relationship that exists between the believer and Jesus. Nothing on earth can tear us away from our Lord.”

Jesus’ Prayer for Sanctification

1. Jesus’ second prayer for us is a prayer for sanctification. Sanctification here means “to be made holy,” and being made holy means being set apart. Jesus wants us “to be consecrated” for service. It has to do with being set apart for the purposes of God. Jesus is praying that we would be set apart by the truth of who he is for the purpose of being sent into the world. We are in the world, but we do not, as Jesus says, “belong to the world.” Being holy, sanctified, and consecrated means that we belong to God and that He has set us apart for a purpose.

2. Having been raised Roman Catholic I am familiar with the practices surrounding the Eucharist. One aspect of the Eucharist is the consecrating of the dishes – the chalice that holds the wine, for example – that are used in Communion. These items have been set apart for a specific purpose; they have been consecrated and sanctified. Jesus is asking his Father to set us apart, to consecrate