John 17:9 - The Focused Prayers of Christ

John 17:9

I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are yours. 

Message: The Focused Prayers of Christ

Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."  

What the Lord is Saying: I continue with these lessons about Jesus praying now for His disciples. Jesus is interceding for His disciples. 

In my Tabletalk lesson for today, they make mention of the 5 points of Calvinism and the most controversial point of limited atonement which says Christ did not pay for all sins on the cross, but only for those of His elect, those that will be saved. And by way of Reformed Theology, they state that this verse adheres to that idea. Jesus is stating here that:

1. He is asking not on behalf of the world.

2. He is asking God only on half of those whom God has given Him - namely the disciples

3. For they are yours God. 

This is an interesting point and one that makes sense. I think one might say that Jesus dies on the cross for all people's sins, but not all people will make a confession of faith and believe in God. 

Other interesting thoughts about this passage:

• If the Father has given them to Jesus, then these disciple were previously the Father's before they were given to the Son. -- Interesting idea here of all that is the Father's is the Son's. But are all people of the Father? Or only these disciples? Not the world as is mentioned. 
• Jesus did not only pray for the disciples as in verse 20 to 26 He will pray for the world, but it will be interesting to read those words and see if these words are more exclusive to those God knows. 

Summary: Jesus continues to pray for that have heard and believed, those are the one's he addresses here as those God gives to Jesus.

Promise: Be comforted this day by the knowledge that Jesus is praying for you and, indeed, is watching over all things for the good of your redemption.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for lifting me up as I think I can take these verses that You attribute to the disciples, your followers, and subscribe also to me, your follower. And yet in these verses I pray for your teaching and understanding of Your Word and what it is saying to me. I simply enjoy the encouragement of prayer. Help me to make prayer a bigger part of my life. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.