John 17:9-11—”I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”
Remember this scripture when you feel all alone, when you feel you don’t belong in this bad world, or when you feel ostracized. Christ went to His Father God. ‘I am praying for them.’ Even Lord Jesus prayed; He also had things to talk to with God and to ask from God. Though unlike us, His needs are directly aligned to God’s, where we are in the process of getting there. Jesus prayed for us Believers, even before our time on earth. He referred to us as ‘whom you have given me, for they are yours’. Christ offered this prayer for his people alone as believers; not for the world at large. Let that sink in for a minute. If you are a parent, your understanding maybe more empathetic. Like children given to parents to be raised on earth, Jesus alludes that God gave us to Him. He prayed for those who are His. ‘For those whom you have given me’ means Jesus looked on us: to be kept as sheep to the shepherd; to be cured as a patient to the physician; and to be taught as children to a tutor.
‘All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.’
The foundation of this line means that the Father and Son are one. Reading this line pricks us a little – eh? Yes, we are in God’s family as co-heirs through Christ. But, is Christ glorified in our every talk, behavior and action? If we are His, will God not provide for His own; will He not keep us safe and secure? All mine are thine. Does this mean that Jesus owns only those devoted to the service of the Father? Jesus is both able and willing to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. ‘Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.’ Are we doing this as Christ wanted? Are we one church, Christ’s body? Or do we want to win arguments, satisfy our egos, squabble about traditions and lose the name of Christ in the process?
Always remember this:
Gal 4:4-7 – But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
