The High Priests Prayer; Boring Or Full Revelation?

Did you notice what Jesus says is the source of this trouble?

Well it is not a what, but a who. Verse 15 says, we need protection not from the world but from “the evil one”. He is the one who stands opposing God. The evil one is the one who stirs up all the trouble, not the world.

But Jesus goes on to tell us how we can be protected from this evil one in same verse by a very surprising statement “that we should not be removed from this world, or the scenes of such evil, but live in the midst of it. Not to glory in it, but to conqueror it; to overcome it by his power.

This means that all our attempts to evade the world and to run from any conflict are contrary to the praying of Jesus. I wish this was not so, and I am sure you wish the same, as we have all had our share of troubles. Jesus is praying that we live amongst trouble, and learn to deal with it.

We have all been brought up to think that safety is gained by removal from a situation; by running away. We have all prayed “Lord, get me out of here”, and I can assure you we will pray that again, but that isn’t the answer according to this prayer.

Jesus is not praying that we be removed from the fire; rather, he is praying that we live in the fire, but be protected while there just like Daniel. The two ways of dealing with the problems are poles apart.

I know you are thinking, like me, that this does not sound like good news. You may also be homing in on the scripture of 1 Corinthians 10:13 which say “God will not give us more than we can bear”.

But that scripture is talking about temptation, not about strife, because in life, we go through situations that are more than we can bear, but it is only in those times that we realize our full dependency on God.

It does not imply that God won’t let us be stressed beyond our capability, nor challenged beyond hope, or pushed beyond our threshold: God gives us more than we can bear on purpose, because it is only when we cannot bear the load, that the strength of Christ kicks in, and He becomes everything we need, and more.

Verse 11, Jesus prays, “Protect them by the power of your name”.

While he was in the world, Jesus protected his own by keeping the powers of evil at bay. He also corrected and rebuked his disciples regularly as a form of protection: and now as he prepares to leave this world, he is asking his Father to continue that same work of protection and correction through the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus prays for our protection because we are in the world but not of this world, and as such, we will face hostility from the evil one; because the more of Gods work we do, the more we achieve, the more the evil one will attack us.

If you are suffering, you are conquering somewhere; so take heart. If you are not doing anything he will not bother you, why would he bother you. He will simply leave you alone, ... well for a while, … .

It is not enough to sit under God’s Word, or to read it privately and say yes we are set apart as disciples, but we must also live in this world for our own sakes. That is where the action is, and that is where God will protect us.