John 17:10 Commentary and Bible Study

I too am a king, the language seems to say. They are mine as well as thine. He does not put it like this: he is going to present it as a petition, but the language is unmistakeably that of an equal. He is the king of heaven, equal with the Father, and these are going to be his people, and he will rule over them forever. They are a common possession of the Father and of the Son, and we may add of the Holy Spirit.Christ will pray for the protection, for the keeping of his people – what a privilege – so that he may be glorified. We are not prayed for only for our own comfort. We are prayed for so that we may be kept as those who glorify Christ. That is the purpose of our being saved. That is the purpose of being posted here in this world for the rest of life’s journey until we are taken home, to glorify Christ. To glorify means to show his worth.How do we do that? By our lives, obviously. We show forth Christ and his work in us. We are different people, better people, kinder people, more honest people, more compassionate, more sensitive people. By our lives we show Christ, and by words. By our words collectively, what we do together as a church, what we do individually, in our witness, to our family, to our colleagues, to all to whom we have the opportunity. So by our lives and by our words, we glorify Christ.But the point is, the prayers of Christ for our keeping are for our keeping for a purpose. Christ does not say, I pray that they may be kept so that they may be blissfully happy, so that they may be wonderfully healthy, so that they may be abundantly prosperous. That is nowhere in the Bible the desire of God for his people. He may minister to us through hardship, through shortage, through ill health. We may know many times of grief through which to prove him. We are prayed for that we may represent him in life and in word. Our protection is petitioned for that purpose.