From: John 17:11b-19
The Priestly Prayer of Jesus (Continuation)
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Commentary:
11-19. Jesus now asks the Father to give his disciples four things—unity, perse-
verance, joy and holiness. By praying him to keep them in his name (v. 11) he
is asking for their perseverance in the teaching he has given them (cf. v. 6) and
in communion with him. An immediate consequence of this perseverance is uni-
ty: “that they may be one, even as we are one”; this unity which he asks for his
disciples is a reflection of the unity of the three divine Persons.
He also prays that none of them should be lost, that the Father should guard
and protect them, just as he himself protected them while he was still with them.
Thirdly, as a result of their union with God and perseverance they will share in the
joy of Christ (v. 13): in this life, the more we know God and the more closely we
are joined to him, the happier will we be; in eternal life our joy will be complete,
because our knowledge and love of God will have reached its climax.
Finally, he prays for those who, though living in the world, are not of the world,
that they may be truly holy and carry out the mission he has entrusted to them,
just as he did the work his Father gave him to do.
12. “That the scripture might be fulfilled”: this is an allusion to what he said to
the Apostles a little earlier (Jn 13:18) by directly quoting Scripture: “He who ate
my bread has lifted his heel against me” (Ps 41:10). Jesus makes these referen-
ces to Judas’ treachery in order to strengthen the Apostles’ faith by showing that
he knew everything in advance and that the Scriptures had already foretold what
would happen.
However, Judas went astray through his own fault and not because God arranged
things that way; his treachery had been taking shape little by little, through his
petty infidelities, and despite our Lord helping him to repent and get back on the
right road (cf. note on Jn 13:21-32); Judas did not respond to this grace and was
responsible for his own downfall. God, who sees the future, predicted the treache-
ry of Judas in the Scripture; Christ, being God, knew that Judas would betray him
and it is with immense sorrow that he now tells the Apostles.
14-16. In Sacred Scripture “world” has a number of meanings. First, it means the
whole of creation (Gen 1:1ff) and, within creation, mankind, which God loves most
tenderly (Prov 8:31). This is the meaning intended here when our Lord says, “I do
not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep
them from the evil one” (v. 15). “I have taught this constantly using words from holy
Scripture. The world is not evil, because it has come from God’s hands, because
it is his creation, because Yahweh looked upon it and saw that it was good (cf.
Gen 1:7ff). We ourselves, mankind, make it evil and ugly with our sins and infideli-
ties. Have no doubt: any kind of evasion from the honest realities of daily life is for
you, men and women of the world, something opposed to the will of God” (St. J.
Escriva, “Conversations”, 114).
In the second place, “world” refers to the things of this world, which do not last
and which can be at odds with the things of the spirit (cf. Mt 16:26).
Finally, because evil men have been enslaved by sin and by the devil, “the ruler
of the world” (Jn 12:31; 16:11), the “world” sometimes means God’s enemy, some-
thing opposed to Christ and his followers (Jn 1:10). In this sense the “world” is evil,
and therefore Jesus is not of the world, nor are his disciples (v. 16). It is also this
pejorative meaning which is used by traditional teaching which describes the world,
the flesh and the devil as enemies of the soul against which one has to be forever
vigilant. “The world, the flesh and the devil are a band of adventurers who take ad-
vantage of the weakness of that savage you bear within you, and want you to hand
over to them, in exchange for the glittering tinsel of a pleasure —which is worth no-
thing — the pure gold and the pearls and the diamonds and rubies drenched in the
life-blood of your God-Redeemer, which are the price and the treasure of your eter-
nity” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 708).
17-19. Jesus prays for the holiness of his disciples. God alone is the Holy One;
in his holiness people and things share. “Sanctifying” has to do with consecra-
ting and dedicating something to God, excluding it from being used for profane
purposes; thus God says to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew
you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to
the nations” (Jer 1:5). If something is to be consecrated to God it must be per-
fect, that is, holy. Hence, a consecrated person needs to have moral sanctity,
needs to be practising the moral virtues. Our Lord here asks for both things for
his disciples, because they need them if they are to fulfill their supernatural mis-
sion in the world.
“For their sake I consecrate myself”: these words mean that Jesus Christ, who
has been burdened with the sins of men, consecrates himself to the Father
through his sacrifice on the Cross. By this are all Christians sanctified: “So Je-
sus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his
own blood” (Heb 13:12). So, after Christ’s death, men have been made sons of
God by Baptism, sharers in the divine nature and enabled to attain the holiness
to which they have been called (cf. Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 40).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Liturgical Colour: White.
| First reading | Acts 20:28-38 © |
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| I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, and its power |
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| Responsorial Psalm |
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| Psalm 67(68):29-30,33-36 © |
| Gospel Acclamation | Mt28:19,20 |
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| Or: | Jn17:17 |
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| Gospel | John 17:11-19 © |
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| Father, keep those you have given me true to your name |
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