The passage
      v11b. Addressing God in both awesome and intimate terms, Jesus prays that the disciples are kept in "the Name." He may mean, kept safe from dark powers by the power of God's awesome character, but he probably means overshadowed by the truth of God's revealed character in Christ, kept in the truth of the gospel of God's grace. He prays this that his disciples my be one, one in this truth.
      v12. While Jesus was with his disciples, he kept them safe in the truth of the gospel, such that they were preserved for the day of salvation. He is now handing that task over to the Holy Spirit. Yet, one was lost, Judas, "the child destined to destruction." It was destined that one disciple would face destruction and Judas chose to play this part.
      v13-14. Jesus has revealed the truth of the gospel to his disciples before leaving the world so that their joy may be complete. By possessing this truth the disciples are separated from this world and therefore, are hated by the world.
      v15. Yet, Jesus doesn't want to take his disciples out from under the temptations and aggression of a world opposed to God, but rather that they are protected from the dark powers that would undermine their eternal salvation.
      v16. The hostility of the world toward both Jesus and his disciples is a consequence of their not being identified with the world's indifference toward God.
      v17. Yet, although the world is indifferent toward God, God is not indifferent to the world. Jesus prays that the disciples are set apart for divine service in the power of God's Word for the service of God's Word, a Word that is eternal truth, grace.
      v18. This service of the disciples involves a confrontation with the world, a confrontation in similar terms to Jesus' confrontation with the world. "Jesus is the one uniquely consecrated by the Father and sent by him into the world to bring to the world the revelation of the Father and his saving sovereignty", Beasley-Murray. Jesus sends his disciples on the same mission.
      v19. Jesus has dedicated his life to the gospel of God's sovereign grace so that his disciples may be similarly dedicated to the gospel, find life in it and make it known.

Two prayer requests sealed with God's approval
      It's always a bit of a worry when someone says to us that they will pray for us. We immediately feel inadequate, a charity case. We have no problem singing "it's me, it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer", but a brother or sister telling us that we are in need of prayer, well that's another matter altogether. Charity case or not, we are forced to be gracious. We thank them for their consideration, head for the high moral ground and respond, "you are always in my prayers."
      Of course, there is one person whose prayers we do greatly appreciate. The Bible tells us that Jesus presents himself on our behalf in the throne room of the Ancient of Days. Now that's a nice thought and we welcome his prayers for us. There is no sense of inadequacy when Jesus' prays for us.
      In our passage for study, John has recorded the prayer Jesus prayed in the upper room on the Thursday evening before his arrest and crucifixion. Way back in the sixteenth century a Lutheran theologian, David Chytraeus, gave the prayer the title "Jesus' High Priestly Prayer" and this title has stuck. In summing up the prayer, one of the great Bible commentator's, B.F. Westcott, writing at the beginning of the twentieth century, said of the prayer, it is "at once a prayer, a profession and a revelation."
      Yes indeed! a revelation, for what Jesus prays for, Jesus gets. Now we know he is praying for the apostles, and that what Jesus asks for them he does not necessarily ask for us. Verses 20, 21a may well deal with that problem, anyhow, we will proceed on the gracious assumption that the prayer is for all believers. So what does Jesus ask on our behalf?
      Jesus makes two requests, the first is: "keep them in your name", v11b. The NIV has "protect them by the power of your name" which is a poor translation. Jesus repeats the prayer in v17, but in different words; "sanctify them in the truth." Only in recent years have commentators come to grips with the term "the name." It represents the character of God, it means virtually the same as "the word", "the truth", the gospel, and distills down to love, for God is love, a love that expresses itself in grace and mercy. Jesus prays that we are kept in gospel truth, the truth of God's eternal gracious loving mercy.
      The second request is: "keep them from the evil one", v15b. There are those who argue Jesus is praying that we are kept from evil, from temptation, testing and trouble, but if this is the substance of the prayer then it hasn't been answered. No, the prayer is far weightier. Jesus prays that we will not be overcome by the powers of darkness such that we lose our eternal standing in the sight of God.
      Remember, what Jesus prays for, Jesus gets.

v11b
      pater aJgie voc. "Holy Father" - father holy. "O Father most holy", other than the word "Father", this is a normal Jewish way of addressing God in prayer. The title conveys both the transcendence and imminence of God.
      thrhson (threw) aor. imp. "protect" - keep safe, guard. Used in the sense of: i] watch, observe, ii] keep safe, protect, iii] observe, obey. Possibly "keep safe", by the power of God, from the world's power to deceive and lead a believer from faith. Brown suggests kept from "contamination", but this would imply that the prayer is ineffective in that it is not answered. It may also mean "keep in", identify with God's name, his character, his person and thus, his wondrous words, "the truth." As Jesus received God's name, so he received God's words, which is much the same thing. So, Jesus prays that his disciples are kept in the truth of his divine revelation, kept in the gospel of God's grace in Christ.
      en tw/ onamati sou "by the power of your name" - in the name of you. Either "marked out / identified in union with God", a local sense, or "protected by God", an instrumental sense, or both, Brown. The NEB covers both meanings with "protect by the power of your name" in the text, and in the margin, "keep them in your name" (in the sense of "keep them loyal to / in adherence to Jesus' teachings"). Beasley-Murray suggests a local sense is best, "keep in / identify with."
      w|/ pro. rel. dat. "the name [you gave me]" - which [you gave me]. Many manuscripts have a masculine plural relative pronoun here meaning that the antecedent is "them", the disciples, eg. NEB. The NIV reading is best, even though this verse and v12 are the only times John says that the divine "name" is given to Jesus. Of course, it makes better sense if the giving of the name is the bestowal of power; "protect them with your personal protection as you did with me", Barclay.
      dedwkaV (didwmi) perf. "you gave" - you have given. Some manuscripts have an aorist here, but the perfect tense is the preferred reading. "The name" was given in the past and is still possessed by Christ.
      iJna + subj verb to-be "so that [they may be one as we are one]" - Normally, hina, followed by a subjunctive, forms a purpose clause. A number of important manuscripts omit this phrase. It does seem incongruous with the instrumental sense of "by the power of your name", but works better with a local sense where "in your name", means "in the truth." The unity then becomes a unity of truth, "one in truth."
      eJn "one" - Barrett argues that the neuter here implies that the disciples will be kept as a unity, not units, although one wonders why John didn't use the abstract form of the noun, "unity". As above, it possibly means a "unity of truth."

v12
      As with v11, note textual varients, identified by some translations, cf. TEV.
      ethroun (threw) imperf. ind. "protected" - was keeping [them in the name]. "I was keeping them in the name / in the truth of the gospel / in the knowledge of God's sovereign grace in Christ" and therefore, "I was preserving them for the day of salvation."
      efulaxa (fulassw) aor. "kept them safe" - I kept guard, kept watch. As the disciples are "in the name" they are guarded against evil, cf. v15. The evil could be some evil-like temptation, or Satan himself, seem unlikely. A guarding that preserves the believer from a loss of their salvation, a guarded unto the day, is better.
      w|/ "which" - The same textual problem exists with this relative pronoun as in v11. As noted above, some manuscripts omit the whole clause.
      apwleto (apollumi) aor. "has been lost" - lost, destroyed, perished. By keeping his disciples in the truth of the gospel of God's grace ("in the name"), "not one of them perished." The gospel has the power to save and all who believe are saved, 3:16.
      thV apwleiaV (a) "the one doomed to destruction" - the child of hell, the son of perdition, the one destined to perish. He is the one who belongs to the realm of damnation and is destined to perish. The term is used by Paul in Thessalonians of the antichrist, although John is using it of Judas. "The son of destruction", Phillips; "the man who for whom there was nothing else but to suffer ruin", TH.
      iJna + subj. "so that" - This hina clause may be consecutive, denoting result, or a final clause, denoting purpose. Christ's life necessarily fulfills scripture. The problem here is, what scripture? John quotes Psalm 41:9 in 13:18, but possibly the term "child of hell" is in mind, Proverbs 24:22a. The other major problem concerns how scripture determines the damnation of Judas apart from his own will. If scripture foretells the betrayal, persecution and death of the messiah, does this necessarily impose upon the will of those who play a part?

v13
      tauta "these things" - Possibly the whole discourse, but more likely the points Jesus has just made.
      en tw/ kosmw/ (oV) "in the world" - Jesus has taught these truths while in the world, before leaving the world; "while I am still in the world", Barclay.
      ecwsin (ecw) pres. subj. "they may have" - have. Jesus has taught that the truth of the gospel of God's grace both saves eternally and unifies believers with the divine. Jesus has taught these truths that his disciples may share (have) his joy to the full. Possibly "my joy may be yours and your joy may be fulfilled ('complete' is better)", Brown.
      peplhrwmenhn (plhrow) perf. pas. part. "full measure" - have been fulfilled, completed. "So that my followers will have the same complete joy that I do", CEV.

v14
      ton logon sou "your word" - the word of you. Barratt thinks the singular, as here, means the divine word or revelation (the gospel personified in Christ), while the plural means something like "precepts".
      emishsen (misew) aor. "has hated" - hated. "The people of this world hate them", CEV.
      oJti ouk eisin ek tou kosmou (oV) "for they are not of the world" - because they are not of the world. John describes believers as born of God, born from above, and therefore called out of the world, 15:19. Not being part of the world prompts distrust and hate, as does the possession of a truth which condemns the world. "Because they do not belong to the world".
      The phrase "any more than I am of the world" is not found in some of the more important manuscripts

v15
      iJna + subj. "that" - Introducing a purpose clause. "The intended purpose of my prayer is not to take them out of the world."
      arhV (airw) aor. subj. "you take" - lift up, take away. It is not Jesus' intention to remove his disciples from danger or temptation, for they will play a part in the redemption of the world through the proclamation of the gospel. "I do not ask you to remove them from the world", Barclay
      thrhshV (threw) aor. subj. "you protect" - you keep. See above. In v11, 12, it was "keep them in the name", now it is "keep them from the evil one"; "keep them safe / protect them from the power of evil", from the power that seeks to overcome a believers faith and thus, their eternal standing in Christ. The phrase "deliver us from evil" in the Lord's Prayer carries the same thought, better translated "free us from the evil one" - "let us not be overcome by the powers of darkness such that we lose our eternal standing in the sight of God."
      tou ponhrou (oV) "the evil one" - This can be translated by the abstract nouns: evil, wicked, malicious,.... such that "the evil one / the prince of darkness / Satan", may not be intended.

v16
      Some important manuscripts drop this verse. It is virtually a repeat of v14b

v17
      aJgiason (aJgiazw) aor. imp. "sanctify" - consecrate, sanctify, set apart, dedicate to. Literally, "make holy." Bultmann defines the word as "to take out of the sphere of the profane and place in the sphere of the divine." In moral terms, which may not be prominent in the use here, the word involves, on one hand, a separation from the world, and on the other, a dedicated conformity with Christ's commands. "Let this truth make them completely yours", CEV.
      en th alhqeia/ (a) "by the truth" - in the truth. Most translations take the preposition as instrumental, "by the truth", but a local sense should not be discounted, "in the truth", NJB, NAB. The truth is God's truth, revelation, word, which is a powerful active and personal manifestation of the divine. Jesus prays that the disciples are set apart for mission in the world, "for / in / by", the truth. Schnackenburg and others argue that "kept in your name" and "consecrated in the truth" have much the same meaning as "receiving and living in the revelation of God in Jesus Christ" - living under the gospel of God's grace. "Truth is both the agency of the consecration and the realm into which they are consecrated", Brown.

v18
      kaqwV "as" - according to the manner in which, in the degree that, as. The word serves to tie the clause to the preceding verse, such that they are one sentence. Better translated "for". So, Jesus prays that the disciples are set apart in the truth of the gospel, for as Jesus was sent into the world, so he sends his disciples.
      apesteilaV (apostellw) aor. ind. "you sent" - send. Some manuscripts have a present tense, but the aorist is the best attested and is possibly proleptic - future referring, given that John is thinking in post resurrection terms. When, in John's gospel, did Jesus previously send out the disciples? "I am sending them", CEV.