“Hallowed be your name”
May 26, 2021
17:1-26 What Jesus wants for us
Read John 17:11-13
Jesus knew that his return to the Father (11a,13a) would result in the disciples being in the world without the protection of his presence (12). He had already promised that he would not leave them “as orphans” – by his Spirit, he will be with them (14:17-18). And God, the “Holy Father”, will protect them too. This title of God occurs nowhere else in the Bible. The idea of God’s holiness is emphasised in the Old Testament (e.g. Lev.11:44-45; 20:7; Is.6:6; 12:6) and is echoed in the New Testament (1 Pet.1:15-16; Rev.4:8; 6:10). By his constant emphasis on God as Father, Jesus showed that God’s holiness does not make him remote, but “Holy Father” reminds us that within the intimacy of God’s fatherly care he is still awesome and different from us.
Jesus asked that the Holy Father would protect them “by the power of (his) name” (11b-12). God’s name refers to the whole nature of God which was fully revealed in the character of Jesus (1:14,18) – the opening words of this part of the prayer are literally, “I have revealed your name” to them (17:6). So his prayer for God to protect them is essentially a prayer that God will keep his disciples faithful to the revelation of God which Jesus had given them.
He prayed this for a specific reason, “that they may be one as we are one” (11c; 17:21-23). Jesus wants us to have the same unity with one another which he has with the Father, and the basis for that is his revelation of God’s own holy and gracious character. Unity, therefore, honours God’s holy name and disunity dishonours it. It’s only by remaining in him and in his love that such unity is possible, but when we do so, our joy in him will be complete (13b; 15:9-12).