We continue our exploration of Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17…

“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours…I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭9‬, ‭11‬ ‭NIV

Second request…

After acknowledging that the Father has entrusted His disciples to Him…and that He  had faithfully protected them and revealed the Father to them…Jesus gave them back into the Father’s care and protection in His prayer…in preparation for His departure. He took nothing for granted. 

Jesus knew that the twelve men He had given time and attention to during the years He had spent with them, would be alone and vulnerable…. So, He gave them back to the Father with words of confidence and commitment. He didn’t leave them…abandoned… in a hostile world…to find their own way. They belonged to God. He would make sure that they would always be in His Father’s care. 

This tender transfer of responsibility is a window into the heart of Jesus. These men were fragile…vulnerable…and precious. He was not about to walk away without making careful plans for them…not that the Father was unaware of their situation but that Jesus and the Father were in partnership to guard these men because He loved them and because He had chosen them to be the bridge between Himself and the fulfilment of His mission. 

Jesus had done everything to mold them into a unit. This oneness would be the badge of their union with Himself. He entrusted them to the Father to keep them safe from the influences that would disturb their unity. 

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus was fully aware that the most treacherous enemy of His disciples was not what hostile people could do to them, but what they could do to themselves and to one another if they allowed their sinful “flesh” to control them. So, His prayer for their protection centred, not on how other people could harm them, but on the potential for evil within themselves. 

It’s unfortunate that the translators missed the impact of the Greek word “poneros”, letting it land on “the evil one” rather than on its primary meaning…from its root, “ponos” meaning “anguish”. “Evil” here (and in the Lord’s Prayer) has to do with the effects of evil…rather than the perpetrator…the anguish they could cause if they hurt one another. There is another word for evil, “kakos”, that refers to the person who is evil and can be used for “evil one” or evil person”. 

Let that sink in! Jesus was not concerned about what people in the world could do to them. He was concerned about the damage to His body that evil, and especially disunity,  could do. Disunity was the fruit of words and attitudes that their sinful nature could produce if they were not aware of the danger within. 

Paul, in his interaction with new believers in the churches he founded, dealt thoroughly and continually with the issue of the flesh. He has felt its power in his own life (Romans 7), learned the secret of overcoming (Romans 6, 8), and warned his readers of effects of the flesh if they did not put the old sinful nature to death in their own lives and in their dealings with one another in the body of Christ. 

Paul gave the Galatians a long list of attitudes and behaviour that ruin people and relationships when the flesh is allowed control…

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus was also not concerned about Satan and what he could do to His followers. He knew that Satan’s most powerful ally was within their hearts. They were the ones who could cause their own destruction. 

God’s protection is not imposed from without. His power is in…the power of His name. 

What is meant by “the power of God’s name”?

“The power of God’s name represents His divine authority, presence, and essential character made accessible to believers. 

Core Meanings in Scripture

• Identity and Essence: In biblical times, a name (shem in Hebrew) was not just a label; it represented the actual character, reputation, and presence of a person. 
• Divine Authority: God defines His own identity (such as “I AM WHO I AM”), meaning His name carries the full weight of His creator power and sovereignty. 
• The Name of Jesus: In the New Testament, the name of Jesus is described as the name above all names, representing salvation, healing, and the direct presence of God with His people. 

How the Power is Expressed

• A Strong Tower: Proverbs 18:10 describes God’s name as a fortified tower where the righteous run and find safety. 
• Answered Prayer and Action: Believers are given the authority to pray, serve, and invoke miracles in Jesus’ name, which brings His active power into a situation. 
• Reverence: Honoring the name reflects an attitude of awe, holiness, and submission to God’s authority rather than trying to use His name as a magic formula.” (Google AI)

How important, then, that the unity between the disciples first, and then between every other person in the body of Christ throughout time, be guarded and protected. This unity is a powerful and effective witness to the world that it is Jesus, sent by the Father, and living in His people, who alone can reconcile and bring people together in true unity. 

So, Jesus included every believer throughout all time in His prayer for protection and unity. 

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Unity would be the target and the victory when the sinful is either in control or overcome through God’s nature being formed in them.