I. Jesus & His Disciples Vs. 6-8
A. Jesus’ Ministry To The Disciples
1. V. 6- I have manifested your name– manifest- To make apparent, visible, conspicuous
a. William Barclay — It does not mean simply the name by which a person is called; it means the whole character of the person in so far as it can be known.
b. Jesus manifested the character and nature of God the Father. He manifested His holiness, His power over disease and death, His hatred of sin and love for mankind.
c. Psalm 22:22 I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
d. John 14:9 He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
2. V. 6– “…the men whom You have given Me…” The Father gave the disciples to Jesus.
a. They would be His constant companions for 3 ½ years.
b. They would be the ones to carry on the work of the Kingdom after Jesus’ ascension.
c. In spite of all of their inabilities, shortcomings, and failures, Jesus received them.
i. Jesus didn’t reject them and ask the Father for a better qualified group.
ii. He accepted them and turned them into men that would change the world.
iii. As a servant to the Father, Jesus accepted the ones that the Father gave Him.
d. This speaks of God’s choice and predestination of what those men were called to be.
i. Christians, disciples, and apostles: ones who set the foundations for the church.
3. V. 8a– For I have given to them the words which You have given Me– Jesus’ message and mission didn’t originate with Him, but with the Father.
B. The Disciples’ Response To Jesus
1. V. 6c; 8b- They have kept your word…they have received them –
a. They chose to believe the spoken words of Jesus.
b. As God the Son in human flesh, Jesus was subservient to the Father.
c. Jesus’ message didn’t originate with Him, but with the Father.
d. Jesus delivered the words of the Father, and the disciples believed Jesus.
e. This speaks of man’s free will in choosing to believe in Jesus.
2. V. 7- The disciples eventually understood that Jesus’ ministry came from the Father.
3. V. 8d- The disciples also believed that Jesus came from the Father.
C. Applications
1. If you are a Christian, it is because the Father has drawn you to Jesus.
a. John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…
b. Like the Disciples, we are deeply flawed, yet the Father draws us to Jesus.
c. May we be gracious with others and with ourselves, knowing that God can only choose from sinners those whom He will draw to Himself.
2. Like the Disciples, we must choose to believe. Faith is a choice.
3. Jesus is our example of Spirit filled humanity. He submitted to the Father completely.
a. His message wasn’t His own. His mission wasn’t His own.
b. His disciples were chosen for Him. Even his time and manner of death was planned.
c. Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
II. Jesus Prays For The Disciples Vs. 9-19
A. The Unity Between The Father And The Son
1. V. 9- “I do not pray for the world”- Jesus loves the world, but His prayer focus was on these men. They would carry the Gospel message forward, so he prayed for them.
2. Vs. 9, 10- The disciples were given to Jesus for the mission of preaching the Gospel, but they belonged to both the Father and the Son. The Father had chosen them.
3. They would carry on with the mission, and Jesus would be glorified in them & thru them.
B. Jesus Prays For The Disciples
1. V. 11– Keep- To guard from loss or injury, to protect.
a. Keep through your name- by the power of who you are, according to who you are.
b. that they may be one as We are- Jesus prayed that they (we) would have the kind of unity that the Father and the Son experienced together.
2. V. 12- Jesus reflected back on His protection of the Disciples and His keeping them with Him and with the Father. The exception was Judas, of whom it was foretold that he would be an unsaved man. Jesus now commits that keeping to the Father.
3. V. 13- Jesus spoke these things in the hearing of the Disciples, that they might hear, understand, and be filled with the joy of Jesus.
a. Joy that they had heard the word of God, and believed.
b. Joy that they had been chosen to continue the work of Jesus.
c. Joy that He was praying for them, and praying that the Father would keep them.
4. V. 14- Jesus states that they live in the world, but are not of the world system, just like Jesus. He gives them self-awareness and understanding of that self-awareness. He equates their experience in the world unto His own. He prepares them for the future.
5. Vs. 15, 16- Jesus didn’t want His men taken out of this adversarial environment.
a. Jesus prayed that they would be kept from THE Evil One. (definite article)
b. He didn’t pray that they would be kept from evil. Evil men eventually killed them.
c. Jesus prayed that they would be kept from the sway of Satan, and that happened.
d. Satan’s greatest power over people is through lies, deception, and imitation.
6. V. 17– Jesus now prays against the danger of them being deceived.
a. Sanctify them- set them apart; separate them by keeping them in the truth.
i. To be set apart from common usage to that which is dedicated to God.
ii. To be made holy means to be set apart for the purposes of God.
iii. It speaks of character and mission; what we are and what we do.
b. Your word is truth- As the Disciples stayed in God’s word, they would stay in truth, and be set apart FROM Satan and FOR God and His purposes.
c. Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
i. It shows you your current condition, and what’s ahead of you.
7. V. 18– They would be sent on the mission of preaching and demonstrating the Gospel.
a. As Jesus was sent (dependent on the Father, full of the Spirit), so they would be sent.
8. V. 19– Jesus didn’t need to sanctify Himself in His person, for He was God in the flesh.
a. He speaks here of setting Himself apart to the cross.
b. His approaching death would sanctify (make holy) them in the highest way, by providing pardon for their sins, and by bringing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to empower them, lead them, teach them and guide them.
Life Group Questions-
1. Jesus manifested the Name of the Father. How has the Name of the Father been manifested to you? (Jehovah Raah-The Lord My Shepherd) (Jehovah Rapha-The Lord That Heals) (Jehovah Jireh-The Lord Will Provide) (Jehovah Shalom-The Lord Is Peace) (Adonai-Lord, Master) (Jehovah Shammah-The Lord Is There)
2. Jesus submitted to the Father regarding the message, the mission, and the people that the Father gave to Him. How have you experienced this same submitting in your own life?
3. How have you or others that you know been sanctified by God’s word of truth?