By Timothy W. Burnett
A very important lesson is learned from the above prayer. Jesus told his Father that he was not praying that He should take them out of the world, but that He should keep or guard them from the evil of the world. He prayed according to the truth. If it were necessary to take them out of the world, then he would have prayed as such. Instead he specifically clarified to God that he was not praying to take them out. To be taken out of the world very likely referred to death. If, as is popularly believed, death directly sent people to heaven, then Jesus would have no doubt prayed for them to die. Even during the days that Jesus Christ lived on earth there were very powerful religious systems that believed death was the direct passage to a better or worse life. In John 11:24 Martha told Jesus, "I know that he [Lazarus] shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Pertaining to the born again children of God who have died, we have 1Corinthians 15:51-54 and 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 both of which teach about the dead being made alive again. According to Hebrews 2:14, death is from the devil. Jesus Christ understood the truth of God's word concerning death, and knew not to pray for this.
Another thing to learn is that Jesus was sending them into the world just as God sent him. To be sent basically meant to be called into a service. See 1Peter 1:20, "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." This verse is talking about Jesus Christ. Now go to Romans 8:29, "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." This is talking about God's born-again children during the age of the grace of God. The truth that God had foreknowledge of His people does not mean that they were walking around in heaven with God in the beginning. It just means that He knew of their future existence from the beginning.
"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That they all may be one, as you, Father are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent me. And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one, and that the world may believe that you have sent me. And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one, and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me" (John 17:20-23). Jesus Christ, the first born son of God, prayed for us while he was still walking on the earth. That's fantastic! Also, please note that to be one with another means to be one in purpose. In this case it meant to be one according to God's purpose.
Jesus' prayer ended with John 17:24-26, "Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which you have given me. For you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you. But I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. And I have declared unto them your name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." His prayer came to pass in that it is now available for people to become born again children of God.
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