Summary of passage: Jesus is continuing his prayer for the disciples, asking God to protect them except for Judas who betrayed Jesus. He asks God to protect them from the evil one and to sanctify them.
Questions:
8a) He prayed for God to protect them from the evil one and to sanctify them.
b) God sent the Holy Spirit to protect the disciples and set them apart for His work. I have my purpose for God as well.
9) As believers in Jesus as Savior, we are awaiting our home in heaven, we are forgiven, and we are sanctified. We are in the world, but not of the world, indulging in sin and the things of the devil. We do not have the mind-set of the world, which is hostility to God.
10) The definition of sanctify according to Webster’s Dictionary is “to set apart as or declare holy; consecrate; to free from sin, purify.” We are set apart as holy as God’s chosen people, made righteous by Jesus’ sacrifice, and justified before God. We are to lead holy and godly lives, full of joy and mercy.
Sanctify means to be set apart for God’s special pleasure and use. It implies holiness, being set apart from the corruption of the world and for God’s use.
Conclusions: Well, we focused on the idea of holiness here instead of the passage, which we haven’t really focused on in this study as of yet. Reasonable enough. Dissection of the passage below.
End Notes: Jesus is praying for the disciples because their lives are about to dramatically change. They won’t have Jesus to go to for questions and answers. They will be on their own, still in this world but not of it. They will begin to face persecution and will have to rely upon the Holy Spirit. A major life-changing even for sure!
Christ’s power is adequate for every need.
Most disciples of the time found a new rabbi to follow once the old one died. Jesus prays for God to keep the disciples true to him. We need to be kept true to Jesus as well with God’s power for we’d never survive the temptations of this world without Him. He wants our joy as well–why else would Jesus pray for it?
Jesus prayed to keep them together and unified so they wouldn’t scatter upon his death. The meaning is they stay unified as the church was meant to be. He prayed for their joy–Jesus’ joy.
Judas was lost as he was meant to be lost according to Scripture (Psalm 41:9 and Psalm 109:8, Acts 1:20).
Jesus was a messenger as well and always spoke God’s words. We are to be in this world and not cloister ourselves in monasteries. For without us, there would be no light, no service, no witness, no grace, no mercy, no compassion from God to others. We are God’s witnesses and we can’t do that isolated. We must do His work He has given us to do.
Sanctification is by truth–the word of God read, heard, understood, and applied. The more truth you believe, the more sanctified you are. The disciples are sent into the world to continue Jesus’ work.
Jesus sanctifies himself, unparalleled in the Bible. The same verb is used of priests in the Old Testament. Jesus sets himself apart to do God’s will, which is death. Jesus’ death saved us and consecrated us to God’s service.
Fun Fact: “Holy Father” is a form of address found only here in the New Testament. It suggests both remoteness and nearness, awe and love.
