The Name that Keeps Us

“And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17: 11-13).

Jesus continued preparing His disciples for His soon departure. He gave them something else to help them continue to grow as disciples and to be successful in sharing the gospel and building the church in the trying days to come. He gave them the name of His Father. He spoke in the context of a culture that attached great significance to name. To the Jewish people a name represented a person's whole personality and character. The Holy Spirit inspired David the psalmist to write… “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7). The Father gave His name to the Son and the Son kept and protected the disciples in the personality and character of the Father. Jesus was telling His disciples that the more they sought to know and reflect the attributes and character of God, the more they would experience holiness, unity, and joy in the midst of an unholy, divisive, and sorrowful world. When serious disciples need real power to live for Christ in this temporal world, we will find it in the name that keeps us.

If you are living a life that glorifies God I’m sure you have enjoyed His protection, provision, and peace. I’m also certain that from time to time you have experienced loneliness, fear, and sadness. The world is not our friend and sometimes living seriously for Jesus alienates us even from other believers. Making the tough choices to put Jesus first can leave us in some pretty scary and insecure situations. The rejection and hostility of others to the presence and glory of Christ in our lives can fill our hearts with sorrow. But we learn from Jesus’ prayer for His disciples that knowing and living in the name, or the personality and character of the Father as revealed in the Son will empower us to live a life that is in but not of this world… “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world… As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (John 17:16-18).

The name of Christ keeps us holy. In this prayer Jesus called on His “Holy Father”. The word holy means set apart from sin, available to be used for God’s purposes. In the Old Testament, Aaron and his sons were set apart to be used exclusively in the tabernacle through sprinkling with blood. After this, they were forever tied to the holy name of God and were to pursue and reflect His holiness to the people.… “They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy” (Leviticus 21:6). In the same way, Jesus’ disciples are set apart by His blood and called to share His life by being holy as He is holy… “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15).

The name of Christ keeps us unified. If we are all seeking to know and glorify the personality and character of Jesus, then we are all moving in the same direction with the same purpose… “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one (John 17:22).

The name of Christ keeps us joyful. Jesus prayed specifically that His disciples would be filled with nothing less than His very own joy… “That they may have my joy”. In knowing and reflecting the name and life of Christ there is joy beyond the empty, temporary happiness of the world. In fact, in Christ there is supernatural joy that empowers us to glorify God in any trial… “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11).

As we grow up into Christ striving to know and reflect His personality and character we discover the holiness, unity, and joy of living in…

The Name that Keeps Us.