So that they may have My joy made full in themselves
John 17:13-16 Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper on behalf of all His disciples is cause for joy in all who follow Him
Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper (restored). In the collection of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy.
“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
John 17:13-16 NASB1995
This prayer by Jesus during the Last Supper is to His Father on behalf of His disciples. In these four verses of John 17, Jesus asks God to keep the disciples in His joy and away from the evil one.
Jesus starts with the simple phrase “But now I come to You”, knowing He will soon complete His earthly work and be seated at the right hand of the Father. He’s praying for His closest followers, all of them directly experiencing the prayer. Jesus often went off by Himself to pray to His Father, but on this special night, He is sharing the prayer to share His joy.
Jesus wanted His joy to be fulfilled in the lives of the disciples. In Isaiah 53:3, He is described as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, but He also lived a life filled with indescribable joy. Jesus lived in uninterrupted fellowship with God, had seen the great things God had done, and His joy was never reduced by sin, deception, or giving Satan even the smallest grip on His life. He had true faith and confidence in His Father — one more cause for joy.
We can be assured that if Jesus was so concerned for joy among His disciples that He specifically prayed for it, He was also concerned that all of His followers — past, present, and future — would have joy. God wants joy fulfilled in our lives, even though the world, the flesh, and the devil would tell us differently.
Next, Jesus says “I have given them Your word”, having delivered God’s word to His disciples as God’s perfect messenger. It wasn’t just a recitation of God’s word that delivered the message to the disciples; they had experienced the entire revelation of The Father through Jesus’s words, actions, and personality.
Charles H. Spurgeon expounded on this perfectly, saying:
“See how the Lord Jesus himself takes all his teaching from the Father. You never hear from him any boast about being the originator of profound thoughts. No, he just repeated to his disciples the words he had received from the Father: ‘I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.’ If Jesus acted thus, how much more must the messengers of God receive the word from the Lord’s mouth, and speak it as they receive it!”1
Further on in the prayer, Jesus says “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world,” seemingly asking God to keep all His disciples from seeking an isolated Christian life. Jesus would rather have His followers be part of the world, but not of it or of the devil. Enduring Word’s David Guzik explains this beautifully:
If we were taken from the world, the world would be in utter darkness and would perish; Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” So, shine.
If we were taken from the world, the world would not have us as a witness, to be a means of salvation unto them. So, win others to Jesus.
If we were taken from the world, we would be denied the opportunity to serve Jesus in the same place we have sinned against Him. So, serve Jesus.
If we were taken from the world, we would not see that there are aspects of God’s wisdom, truth, power and grace that are better appreciated on earth rather than in heaven. So, see the glory of the Lord.
If we were taken from the world, we would be denied the place to prepare for heaven. There is no purgatory; our preparation is now. So, get ready for heaven.
If we were taken from the world, we could not show the power of God’s grace to preserve us in the midst of difficulty. So, continue on.
God wants us to stay in the world to complete His work!
Jesus then asks His Father to “keep them from the evil one,” protected from worldliness, apostasy, and unholiness. His followers will still experience hardship, but through His prayer for us, we can be reassured of protection from the evils of the world.
In the last verse of this part of the prayer, Jesus says that “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world”. Jesus sees His disciples as in Him, not of the world. Through this statement to God, audible to the disciples, He was teaching them just how unique they — as His followers — were!
I’ll end today’s devotional with a short quote from biblical scholar and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition David Carson, who said of this final prayer of Jesus: “Their joy will be greater for remembering that Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, prayed for his followers.”2
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I thank and worship You for Your unbounded love for us, sending Your Son Jesus to place Your Word in our hearts through faith in Him. Thank You that Your Word reminds me that this world is just a temporary dwelling as I make my way to my heavenly home. I thank You through prayer in the name of my Savior Jesus Christ, AMEN.
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon "The New Park Street Pulpit" Volumes 1-6 and "The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit" Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990)
Carson, D.A. "The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Exposition of John 14-17" (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 1980)