John 17:9-12 – Jesus praying for His own

Jesus’ prayer for the apostles from verses 9-19 can be divided into three segments. He prayed for them because they belonged to Him. He then prayed for them to be kept and preserved from the enemy, the world and the devil. Finally, He prayed for them to be sanctified.

In verses 9-10, we see that firstly, Jesus recognized that these disciples came as a gift from the Father. And as much as they belonged to Him, they were also the Father’s. And Jesus had consciously poured His life into them, and that through them His personality and nature could be seen. Having spent three over years with them, He knew them intimately and He treasured them. Here in His prayer Jesus made a distinction between these eleven whom He loved, and those of the world. Right at this point, He was considering the fact that His eleven chosen men would soon be facing a hostile world. So He did not pray for the world. This of course did not mean that Jesus had no concern for the world. Remember that it was for the world that He came to die for. He was aware that soon He would be leaving the apostles behind and so naturally He was concerned for them. They were His primary concern at this point. Hence His prayer was for them.

From verses 11-12, Jesus prayed for them to be kept in the Father’s name.  In praying this way, Jesus was expressing His desire for them to be preserved by God’s own power, resources and ability. Just as God had personally taken the responsibility for Jesus’ life, His request was for the Father to also take personal responsibility for the apostles as well. He asked that in His absence, God would personally see to their safety and keep them from their enemy. Jesus knew that in this way, they would be adequately looked after. His desire was also to see the same unity He had with the Father to prevail in the lives of the apostles as well.

Conscious of the Father’s work through Him, Jesus gave His all to preserve the apostles. He kept them all intact except for Judas Iscariot, the son of perdition. Judas’ betrayal must not be seen as a failure on Jesus’ part. For Scriptures had clearly revealed that he was never ordained to be part of the apostolic band. That accounted for why his heart was never yielded to Christ. This was why he did not respond to the overtures of Christ’s grace, love and mercy shown towards him.

In the passage, we see that Jesus was fully conscious that it was the Father who was at work in Him. He had granted Jesus the power to see to the safety of His disciples, and Jesus had worked in tandem with the Father. Aware of it or not, each of us has some people God had placed under our care. Learning from the Lord, we must also see those under our care as God’s gift, and so make time to pray for them. And like Jesus, we must collaborate with God to protect them and help them to attain their God-given potential.