And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world… (Jn 17:11-19)
There is a description about the disciples in this section. They are the ones the Father has given to Jesus. They already belong to him. Now Jesus is handing them back to his safe keeping. They are distinct from ‘the world’. Through Jesus’ teaching they have become cleansed and new people. They are not from the world.
This does not mean that they have no human ancestry, homes and families. They have physical bodies which will one day decay and die. ‘The world’ in this gospel means the world that has rebelled against God; that is wicked; the evil and the dark force. This world has hated the disciples.
So the prayer of Jesus is to protect them from this world. He prays that they may be kept safe, and kept united. He also prays that they be consecrated. Consecration in the Jewish background is to be set apart for the Temple service (High Priest). Temple is the place where God dwells. So consecration is for God’s service. Jesus prays that the disciples be set apart because that are for God (they belong to God and the word of God is with them) and hence that are not form this world.
