Word of Encouragement (3/31/2021)

The petition we want to reflect on today is John 17:15: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”

We can say that this petition is a temporary one—in the sense that it is only until the end of this world, or until we die. Jesus did not come to keep us in this world of change and decay forever. This world was never meant to be our eternal abode. Even if Adam did not fall in sin, this world under the Second Law of Thermodynamics would have been eventually replaced by a new heaven and a new earth. He came into this world so that He might rescue us and bring us to His eternal abode. So, when Jesus was about to finish His work of redemption through His death and resurrection, He told His disciples, “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3).

But until we die, or until He returns to bring us home, Jesus prays that God would keep us in this world. There is an ecclesiastical dimension to this petition: Jesus is asking His people, the Church, to be kept and preserved in this world. Why? Ultimately, as a witness to Christ and His work of redemption for the salvation of all God’s elect. So, Jesus says a few verses later, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (17:18). This involves the work of convicting the world of its sin and extending the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who would receive Him as their Savior. It also includes serving as a colony of heaven, a place of refuge and shelter for the people of God to worship and fellowship together and make disciples of Jesus Christ from generation to generation.

But this petition of Jesus also communicates God’s pastoral program for His people: rather than simply removing our problems or taking us out of our problems (“I do not ask that you take them out of the world”), God wants to enable us to overcome the world (“but that you keep them from the evil one [while they are in the world]”). This reminds us of what God said through Isaiah: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isa. 43:2). What is harder—keeping someone safe far away from the battlefield or on the battlefield while a fierce battle is taking place? When troubles are kept away from us, we may think we don’t need God. But if God allows troubles in our lives, it is to keep us close to Himself (which is the safest place for us) and help us experience His presence and help amid our troubles so our faith might grow and our confidence in Him deepen. It is also to wean us from this world that is perishing away and strengthen our hope for the eternal world to come.

Let us remember that we are here for a mission—to bear witness to Christ. Let us pray, then, not just for the removal of our troubles but for the glory of God to shine even as we go through trials.