Keep Them From the Evil One

John 17:11b-17
Often when I am visiting someone in the hospital, one of the things that I will say when I am leaving is that we will keep you in our prayers or I will mention that the staff prayed for you today. At one time I thought that this was just a nice way to close off a visit until one time when I was the patient in the hospital and I got a pile of hand made get well cards from the children in our school and many of them said that they were praying for me. What a comforting feeling to know that so many people were bringing requests to God for healing on my behalf. It has happened a several times since I’ve been in the Ohio District that I will receive an e-mail from the district office saying that the staff at the district was praying specifically for our congregation. I have even received letters from congregations in other parts of the country that have chosen our congregation at random and prayed for us. What has been interesting about that is that the timing of those prayers have always coincided with some major activity or decision that the congregation was about to make. The Lord was not only receiving the prayers but was guiding others to pray for us in the process. That is a testimony not only to the power of prayer but also God’s will that we pray for one another.

Our Gospel reading for today is another example of the importance of prayer in the lives of God’s people. What makes this reading so special for us is that the one who is praying is Jesus Himself. If you look closely at all of John 17 you find that Jesus is not only praying for His disciples at that moment but in verse 20 He says, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” When you think about that, you realize that this prayer, which is often called Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” was for us as well. If it gives us a sense of comfort to know that our family and friends and members of the church are praying for us, think of the comfort that we can have knowing that Jesus is praying for us as well.

There are many things that Jesus prayed about in this special prayer on the night when He was betrayed and arrested and questioned by the religious leaders of the day. If you were to sum up the thoughts of this prayer it would probably come down to the words of verse 15 that I read before. “I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one.” As we consider the implications of that prayer for our lives today, may we be strengthened and encouraged for lives as people of God for our struggle against the evil one every day.

In our day when many people no longer believe that there is a devil, an evil one, who has a negative effect on our lives, it is important that we continue to hear the Word of God that definitely says that there is an evil one. In his first letter Peter writes in the fifth chapter, the eighth and ninth verses, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” Jesus, Himself, in our text recognizes the influence of the evil one. He is all around us and the more we try to resist his influences the harder he will work to get us to fall away from God. That is his sole purpose. He will try any tricks he can to accomplish his goals.

He uses the world around us. He pressures us with the enticements of the world trying to get us to abandon God’s will for the pleasures that he convinces us we need to have. Just like he did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he will try to get us to question God’s wisdom and His will and he will try to convince us that we know better than God what is good and right. He will use our friends to influence us to ignore our parents and others in authority. He will use the media to desensitize us to violence and bad language, to sinful lifestyles and greed, and convince us that tolerance of sin is the honorable and loving thing to do.

Not only does the devil attack us using outside influences, he also makes use of our sinful nature. We still struggle with that sinful nature all the time and the devil would like nothing better than to have us convince ourselves that the sinful things that we do are really not all that bad and that it really doesn’t count as bad unless we get caught. Those temptations are with us all the time.

Jesus asks that we not be taken out of the world. That means that we are going to continue to be tempted. If we were all taken out of the world then we would not have the opportunity to be a positive witness for Him to the world around us. We have an important job to do as people of God. If all God’s people were gone, there would be no resistance to the evil one and his dirty tricks. Jesus prays that the Father would keep us from the evil one. That seems like an impossible task, given the fact that the devil is using so many weapons against us including our own sinful nature. But we know that with God nothing is impossible.

As we come to the end of the Easter season this weekend, we are reminded about the great victory that has been won for us through Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. Many times during this Easter season you have heard us talking about the fact that Jesus’ victory over sin, death and the devil is our victory as well. Because He lives we shall live also, not just in heaven but also in this life. He gives us new life through the power of the Holy Spirit who works in us through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments. Through the Word we are reminded of the will of God and we recognize our sin and our need for a Savior. Through the Gospel message in the Word we are reminded that Jesus came to give His life so that our sins could be forgiven. That is the basic Law and Gospel message. It is the truth that brings us the power to overcome the challenges of the devil, the world and our sinful nature. Through our Baptism we are reminded daily that we are new creatures who have been washed in the blood of Jesus. We are reminded that we start each day fresh with the burdens of sin lifted from our shoulders. When we receive the Lord’s Supper we are receiving the forgiveness of our sins and the power of the Spirit to trust in Jesus alone and live the kind of life that gives glory to God as we serve our neighbor.

This is where this prayer of Jesus really touches our lives each day. With the power of the Spirit strengthening our faith and our lives, we can face the decisions of life with a new perspective. We are able to make choices that consider first of all God’s will and then what is best for those around us. We are able to push into the background the selfishness of our sinful nature. When we do that, we can look at the major decision of our life in a new way.

When we make use of the strength from the Holy Spirit to be able to live new lives, we also have guidance in setting the priorities in our lives. What is most important to me? Is it doing God’s will or is it doing what is best only for me? When we consider God’s will the answer is clear. When our priority is to God’s will, then we are also doing what is best for us and for all those around us at the same time.

That power of the Spirit that guides and strengthens us also gives us the courage to step out in faith and serve the Lord first in the face of opposition from the evil one, the world around us and our own sinful self. I can be a courageous Christian because I know that Jesus has already won the greatest victory for me. I may win a few battles and I may lose a few battles but the final victory is already mine. That is how the Father has answered His dear Son’s prayer for me. He keeps the evil one from devouring me because the that evil one has already suffered the final defeat.

Let there never be any doubt in your mind that Jesus continues to pray for you. His prayer on that night recorded in John 17 was not a one time thing. He continues to pray for us. In Romans 8:34 we hear that Jesus is at the Father’s right hand interceding for us. In I John 2:1 we hear, “We have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” Imagine that. The Risen and Ascended Savior, Jesus the Christ, is praying for you. He is praying that you be kept from the evil one. The Father has answered His dear Son’s prayer through the spiritual blessings that you have in the Means of Grace. May we make use of those means throughout our lives until the evil has no influence on us at all. Amen

And the peace which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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