"I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours.10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth."
Translation: I made known your name to the ones whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have known that all things, however many, you have given me are alongside of you, for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them, and they know truly that I came out alongside of you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking concerning them, not concerning the world (kosmou) I am asking, but concerning the ones you gave me because they are yours. And all mine are yours and yours mine, and I am glorified in them.
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I also am coming to you. Holy Father, take care of them in your name that you have given me so that they may be one, just as we. While I am being with you, I am taking care of them in your name which you gave me, and I am guarding, and not one out of them was destroyed except the son of destruction so that the scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they might have my joy made complete in themselves. I am have given to them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not out of the world just as I am not being out of the world.
I am not asking so that you might raise them out of the world, but so that you might guard them out of the perils. They are not out of the world just as I am not out of the world. Make them holy in the truth. Your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I sent them into the world, and over them I am making holy myself so that they are being made holy in truth.
Background and situation: The lection is a continuation of the high priestly prayer of Jesus in the fourth gospel. Maybe it's just me, but the high priestly prayer reads like apocalyptic literature. You find yourself in the middle of it, and you're not sure when you're going to get back out. (About 20% of the fourth gospel consists of the high priestly prayer.) While you're in it, you are flooded with images, many of which weave in and out. The difference, of course, is that apocalyptic is much more frightful, while the high priestly prayer is meant to be comforting.
Making known God's name: Jesus is speaking with the Father, and says, "I made known your name to the ones whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word."
Jesus has "made known" or "revealed" the name of God. This recalls Exodus 3 where Moses is told that God's name is "YHWH," a name so holy that it was not pronounced, and adonai--"Lord"--was substituted instead. In the Greek version of the Old Testament (Septuagint), YHWH is rendered ego eimi--literally, "I am, I am," though generally translated simply as "I am." Jesus says ego eimi all through the fourth gospel.
Two things: (1) In Jesus' repeated use of the word "Father" in reference to God, he invites people to relate to God in relational terms--the word "Father" is used only a handful of times in the entire Old Testament--and (2) the fourth gospel intends for its readers to understand Jesus himself as ego eimi and, by extension, YHWH. As the Septuagint (Greek) version of Isaiah 52:6 puts it: "Therefore shall my people know my name on that day, because ego eimi is the one who speaks."
"They have kept your word": The disciples are caught in the tension between "out of the world" and "in the world." This can be a difficult place to be. One is entrapped, you might say, in the daily limitations of life "in this world." This narrows a person's vision and consciousness. Nevertheless, the disciples are highly praised by Jesus because "they have kept your word."
Now they have known that all things, however many, you have given me are alongside of you, for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them, and they know truly that I came out alongside of you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking concerning them, not concerning the world (kosmou) I am asking, but concerning the ones you gave me because they are yours. And all mine are yours and yours mine, and I am glorified in them.
This sentence, a long one for the fourth gospel, expresses multiple Johannine themes. "All things" underlines the cosmic scope of Christ. "They have known" and "truly know" of the close connection of Jesus with the Father. Moreover, the word ginosko emphasizes the depth and intimacy of this knowledge. The disciples "have received" and "have believed"--high praise for the fourth gospel.
Jesus goes on to say that his prayer is for "them," probably meaning the Johannine community and, by extension, all disciples. After again noting his closeness to the Father, Jesus says he is "glorified in them," i.e. glorified in the Johannine community, or even "made radiant" in the Johannine community. (Interesting: When Jesus prays, the word is erotao. When the disciples pray, the word is aiteo.)
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I also am coming to you. Holy Father, take care of them in your name that you have given me so that they may be one, just as we. While I am being with you, I am taking care of them in your name which you gave me, and I am guarding, and not one out of them was destroyed except the son of destruction so that the scripture might be fulfilled.
This is the only place where the fourth gospel identifies the Father as "holy." Matthew and Luke identify the Father as "holy" in the Lord's Prayer. In the case of the Lord's Prayer, however, the holiness of God is linked with the coming kingdom--"thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In the case of the fourth gospel, the holiness of God is linked with the unity of the disciples--"that they may be one, just as we (are one)."
The reference to "taking care" of the disciples--keeping (eteresen) them and watching (ephylaxa) them--recalls, according to Wes Howard-Brook, the Septuagint version of the Book of Wisdom: "She, in the midst of the nation's widespread evil, found the just one, and kept (eteresen) that one blameless before God, and watched (ephylaxa) that one against compassion for his child." (10:5)
One, however, was "destroyed." Did Jesus not quite "keep" all who were given to him? Was there not one exception? In a clear reference to Judas, the author of the fourth gospel mentions a "son of destruction." This "son of destruction" was not one of God's own.
The "son of destruction" resembles the Greek god Ate. Ate went around trying to get human beings to do destructive things. Yet, even though these destructive acts might be attributed the Ate, the individual still did not escape responsibility--and certainly not Judas.
"Your Word is truth":
But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they might have my joy made complete in themselves. I am have given to them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not out of the world just as I am not being out of the world.
I am not asking so that you might raise them out of the world, but so that you might guard them out of the perils. They are not out of the world just as I am not out of the world. Make them holy in the truth. Your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I sent them into the world, and over them I am making holy myself so that they are being made holy in truth.
As he did in chapter 15, Jesus here says this "fulfilled joy" is the purpose of his speech in the world. (See also this comment on chapter 15.) Joy is the effect of our connection to the "true vine."
Jesus speaks of the resistance being faced by the community--the "hate" that they experience in the world. In one sense, the disciples are "out of the world" (17:6), but 17:14 says "they are not out of the world." (NRSV has "they do not belong to the world.")
The distinction seems to be that, yes, they are in the world, but their allegiance is to God. This is a theme that is typical of the entire Johannine corpus (John, the Johannine letters, and Revelation).
The definite article appears before the word ponerou, which is generally translated as "evil." Literally, the phrase would read: "...so that you might guard them out of the evil..." Ponerou, however, can also be translated as "perils," "difficulties," or even "sickness" or "disease."
The phrase may be understood much as the Lord's Prayer is understood, either in the older language--"deliver us from evil"--or the newer language: "Save us from the time of trial." (In my view, the latter should be translated, "Save us into the time of trial." The word is eis--"into".)
The final verses of the lection express something like a commissioning of the disciples. Jesus asks the Father to "make them holy in the truth, your word (logos) is truth." This also recalls that Christ himself is the "word" (1:1-3).
All through the fourth gospel, "truth" is connected with Christ, who is "full of grace and truth" (1:14). The Holy Father is being asked to make the disciples "holy," which is done through their connection with the logos, which is Christ himself.
This section of the prayer recalls Leviticus 11:44: "For I am the Lord your God, sanctify yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am holy." What Leviticus exhorts, Christ accomplishes. What Leviticus demands, Christ gives.
Image: That they may be one, Simon Ushakov, the Last Supper, 1685
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