NOTES for Joh 17:11-19

In this passage Jesus once again says that His followers, like Himself, are “not of the world.” Christians are called to live according to the Beatitudes, which do not fit at all with customary notions of earthly success. What the Lord calls us to does not guarantee universal recognition, wealth, or prosperity. Here He speaks of an entirely different reward—His “perfect joy,” for the sake of which the Lord “consecrates Himself.” He goes to the sacrifice of the Cross so that we may be bearers of joy in this world that rejects Him.

Jesus' disciples are called to live in this difficult world without trying to avoid everything that does not correspond to their ideas of what is right. How often, when we encounter something unchristian, do we try not to see it and ask God to remove it from our field of vision. Yet Christ clearly prayed to the Father not that He take us out of the world, but that He “keep us from evil.”