15 I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

John 17:15-19 (NASB) 

Continuing this thought from yesterday, Jesus repeats in His prayer to the Father that His disciples are not of the world. He asks the Father to not remove them from the world but to protect them from the evil one, and to sanctify them in the truth. Jesus carries on the sending process initiated by the Father.

In but not of the world

The disciples are in the world and Jesus asks the Father to keep them (us) here. He didn’t take them out when He left but left them in the world. They (we) have a job to do.

• “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) We bring glory to God.
• We’re called to make disciples, baptize and teach. (Matthew 28:19-20). 
• We should be like dedicated soldiers: “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him.” (2 Timothy 2:4)
• Our time on earth is our opportunity to lay up treasure in Heaven where moth and rust don’t decay and thieves don’t break in and steal. (Matthew 6:20)

Jesus saves His disciples out of the world then sends them back into the world as His servants and soldiers, His representatives, to reach the others yet lost.

Sanctified in truth

Jesus prays that the Father will sanctify the disciples, to set them apart as holy and special. He desires us to be pure instruments that bring Him glory, to be one with Him and one another. He does this with the Truth of His word. Since Jesus calls Himself the Way, Truth and Life (John 14:6), He’s asking the Father to set the disciples apart in Him.

“Jesus didn’t just leave the disciples to sanctify themselves. He prayed for their sanctification. This process, as the keeping process, is not left to us alone; it is a work of God in us and through us.” (enduringword.com)

RЯeflection

• Are we doing the work Jesus leaves us here to do?
• Sanctification is an ongoing process. Let’s rejoice that it is The Father who does the “heavy lifting” of sanctifying us.