John 17:13-16

John 17:13-16 I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

When Jesus, by the unction of the Holy Spirit, emphasizes an idea by saying it more than once in a brief time period, we should take note. He says, the world hates them because they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. Twenty-one words later, He repeats this phrase: surely the Father did not lose track. By talking to the Father, Jesus informs his beloved followers: This world is not your home: you are strangers in a foreign land. This describes your existence because you are not of the world any more than I am of the world. He does not ask the Father to deliver them from the world but to protect them from the evil one and to sanctify them by the truth, his Word! Jesus offers himself as the only Way to the Father, for He is the One who declared: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) At the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus completely fulfills the words of John the Baptist as he ushered in Christ's mission: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. . .For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:14:17) Jesus says what He must say while He is with his disciples that they might go forth with in the power of the Holy Spirit with the full measure of all the joy He has in him within them. He knows they are unprepared for the hatred they will face. Jesus knows they will overcome only through the power the Father has to bestow upon them as He fulfills his plan to take his the grace and truth to a fallen world in need of a Savior.

Christ's prayer to the Father should stir our hearts anew today as we ask ourselves: Are we truly in the world BUT not of the world? Do our actions and reactions, our words and activities, our time commitments and loyalties testify to that reality? Do our friends, relatives, and co-workers know we have a blessed hope burning in our hearts as we look for the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ? (Titus 2:13) Jesus, the Son of God, did not bring the Word of God: He is the Word. The Everlasting Word, the personification of the Father who was with God from the beginning, emptied himself and walked among human beings to reveal completely the divine nature and true perfection our Holy Father who loved us from the foundation of the World. Jesus, the man, demonstrated and expressed the truth of God (his reality, nature, and existence) by his words and his works, by always listening to the Father's voice and doing the Father's will. God sent the Son not only to forgive sin, which would have been beyond human imagination indeed; but also to bring us into an amazing faith relationship with him through Christ.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He [Jesus] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His [God's] nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He [Jesus] had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

(Hebrews 1:1-4 NASB)

Faith in our risen Lord, the truth personified, sets us free from sin and death, allowing us to share our freedom with others since He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. (1 Peter 2:24 NASB) Jesus said, So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36) We were not meant to clasp our deliverance and adoption into God's family as a secret. We should shout from the housetops: I AM FREE! Our spirits are no longer totally subject to carnal thinking and the evil dictates of this world any more than Jesus was of this world while He lived here. Jesus listened to and obeyed the Father's voice in dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we wonder at the many complaints of American Christians as we overflow with blessings and benefits, even in our worst calamities. Under house arrest in Rome, Paul wrote: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3) Paul arrived in chains in the city where he had hoped to move freely as an apostle; yet his letters overflow with joyful praises and encouragements to hear the truth and to walk as believers risen with Christ. Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4) Despite any temporary trials, WE WHO ARE IN CHRIST LIVE NOW AND FOREVER BECAUSE HE LIVES. As Christ truly sanctified himself to the Father, by his grace we should shine for him as living testimonies that God's Word is truth! We may stumble, but we should quickly arise, for we are not helpless or blind. As Paul told the Corinthians, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. (1 Corinthians 9:26) We must stand fast as committed children of God, sold-out to him, not wishy-washy, not faint-hearted. In truth we pledge: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)