Holy Father, keep them in your name
that you have given me,so that they may be one just as we are one.
Jesus prays that we may enjoy a unity that is beyond the natural. It isn't just several different things sharing the same space. It is a deep unity that the Holy Spirit brings about through the bond of peace (cf. Eph. 4:3). He wants us to have this peace so that we can share his joy completely.
But Jesus sees threats to this unity and peace.
because they do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
And Paul sees similar threats. They are always on the horizon for the people of God.
I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,
and they will not spare the flock.
And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth
to draw the disciples away after them.
Both Paul and Jesus have such compassion for the flock entrusted to them that they refuse to leave the scene without providing for their defense. We can see their compassion in the tears Paul sheds as he parts with his brethren in Ephesus. In light of this compassion we can see how important it is when Jesus and Paul pray and teach us that we may have the peace and joy of the Spirit. Their own visible presence is a secondary thing provided the peace of God remains. They do not ask for us to be taken out of the world. Circumstances are secondary. The peace and unity of Jesus can endure in the face of any circumstances. But they cannot endure if the Evil One has his way. The world can do what it wants to us. Provided the Evil One does not have his way in us, in our hearts, we are victorious. When we are consecrated in the truth the Evil One has no way inside us.
Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth.
When our lives our built on the Word of God we are consecrated in truth and protected from the enemy. We are victorious and eventually experience our full inheritance among the saints in glory.
And now I commend you to God
and to that gracious word of his that can build you up
and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated.
God wants to give us a profound unity and peace by the power of his Holy Spirit even amidst the chaos of our own evil age. His shepherds share his heart and long to see us consecrated in the truth. God and his shepherds wants us to receive his gifts and to bring them to his "temple in Jerusalem", to the Church, to build it up. This peace is a witness to God's own power with which he takes our part.
Show forth, O God, your power,
the power, O God, with which you took our part;
For your temple in Jerusalem
let the kings bring you gifts.
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