John 17:9.2 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world.”
Yesterday we rejoiced and were encouraged that we who have received and believed in Jesus through the words and witness of Jesus’ disciples were in God’s view. But what encouragement can we receive from who is not in view? The world has never been in view of this particular, exclusive love.
Those who were and are of the world were not to receive the blessing of His particular, exclusive intercession. The set of people known by Jesus as “the world” in this context may be identified as those who were not given to Him by the Father. I can hear some asking, “But what about John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son…” In that context, Jesus speaking to Nicodemus, who thought that God only loved the Jews, needed to know that the Spirit of God was going to move among the Gentile world. So “the world” in John 3:16 referred to the Gentile world. However, in the context of John 17, “the world” Jesus referred to when He spoke with His Father, was those who the Father had not given to Him. Context determines the meaning of the words. How can we know who has not been given to Jesus? They are those who refuse to receive and believe the words and testimony of Jesus’ disciples. They do not believe God sent Jesus as the only way, truth, and life.
This truth should encourage us all the more to love those God puts in our paths each day by sharing with them Jesus’ words given to His disciples. And let us pray with Jesus to the Father on behalf of those He’s given to His Son. Those who are of this world will not believe, so don’t take it personally. They can’t believe because of the sin of unbelief. With Jesus, we must lovingly and trustfully leave those who reject Him in the Father’s hands. But we aren’t trying to identify those for whom Jesus didn’t pray. We love and share the words of Jesus given to His disciples, the gospel, to find out those for whom He did pray. They will respond because Jesus has and is interceding for them.
Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com
