John 17:9-10 9I ask for them; I do not ask for the world, but for those whom you have given to me; for they are yours; 10and all things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them.
Jesus next intercedes for his disciples after thanking the Father for them in verses 6-8. The prayer is specifically for them. They will face many challenges in the future. What they needed most was God’s presence with them. Verse 9 should not be interpreted to mean that the world was not important to Jesus, for he came to give himself for it (3:17). The purpose of this part of the prayer is to lift up the core need of the disciples, which is stated at the end of verse 10: that they glorify Jesus. The reason Jesus prays specifically for them is given at the end of verse 9: because they belonged to God. They were God’s chosen instruments of grace. The disciples had entered into a special relationship with God because of their faith in Jesus. They had committed themselves to God. They were no longer their own or the world’s.
The bond and unity of the Father and Son is emphasized once again in verse 10. Everything that belongs to the Father also belongs to the Son. One particular “thing” that they share is the disciples. The disciples belonged to the Father, who gave them to the Son, who returned them to the Father. The team had been formed. The Father entrusted the disciples to Jesus for a time. Jesus did all the Father wanted and prepared the disciples to fulfill the Father’s will just has he had done. They were ready to follow in his footsteps. Jesus does all things well, and the greatest miracle is in changed lives. The disciples had experienced transforming grace, even with their doubts and fears so evident in this last supper and the next few days. Even in their lowest and hardest struggles, they had sanctified themselves to God’s work. God would next sanctify them to himself and do an even greater work in them because of what Jesus was about to do.
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