From the series In But Not Of
There are many things Jesus prays for throughout John 17, for God to be glorified, for believers to be unified, and for hearts to be protected by the Word. But one thing Jesus doesn’t pray for is significant, Jesus never prays for the world to like us, because that is not the goal. He prays that the world would know God. In this closing section of John 17 we are reminded that this world does not know Jesus, and because they don’t know Him they won’t like us. But we know Him and He knows us. And this truth makes all the difference in this world. Jesus’ prayer is that the world would know God’s love as Jesus knows God’s love. The more we know the love of God, the greater picture the world has of His love. So as the times grow tiring, and the hatred grows stronger, we are reminded that to be in but not of this world, is to pursue a Love beyond this world.
