Not Of The World
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” John 17:13-16
We are in the second section of Jesus’ high priestly prayer. He has prayed for Himself (17:1-5) and is now praying for His disciples (17:6-19). He has described them as those chosen by God the Father and given to Him (17:6). By believing Jesus words the disciples have shown that they really do belong to God (17:8). Jesus has then prayed that they would know the Father’s protection so they could experience the same oneness in purpose and mission that He has shared with the Father (17:11).
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” John only records one other time when Jesus spoke of the disciples sharing His joy (15:9-11). There He spoke of the disciples’ need to continue in His love as He continued in the Father’s love by obedience to the Father’s commands, and concluded, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete”(15:11). Jesus’ joy came from doing the Father’s will, and the disciples’ joy would come from doing what Jesus commanded.
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” By receiving the word of God that Jesus gave them, the disciples, like Jesus Himself, were now “not of the world.” The world did not accept Jesus’ word and hated those who did, just as it had hated Him (7:7; 15:18,19,24,25). In John’s gospel the world, when it appears in opposition to Jesus, means the world in rebellion against God, the world that has chosen darkness over light and is personified in the Jewish leadership that was so antagonistic toward Him.
We come now to the second petition Jesus makes for His disciples. “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” Despite the world’s hatred of Jesus, He doesn’t pray that the disciples be taken out of the world. They were to remain in the world as His witnesses (15:27). Jesus prayed that the Father would protect them from “the evil one.” Until now each time John’s gospel has mentioned the devil, his activity has centred on bringing about Jesus’ death (6:70; 8:44; 13:2,27). Once Jesus ascended, this activity would be directed toward the disciples. Jesus prayed then that the Father would protect the disciples from the evil one. And finally, repeating what He had moments before He prayed, Jesus added, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” Because they were not of the world but must remain in it and bear witness to Jesus, they would need the Father’s protection.
God sees a clear demarcation between the world and His children. Remember the world in this sense isn’t the physical universe. The world is in organised opposition to the Creator. The world refuses God’s rule. Jesus is not part of this world and nor are His followers. We need to be careful not to be pulled back into this world. We were once part of it but when we received and believed the truth about who Jesus is, we were taken out of the world. We don’t belong there. We’re different and as long as we continue to believe in and follow Jesus, we always will be.
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