SHABBAT SHALOM

16    They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17    Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18    As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

13    But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14    I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15    I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 19    And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

11    Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me,  that they may be one as We  are. 12    While I was with them in the world,  I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept;  and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

9    I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10    And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

John 17:6-19 (NKJV) 6   "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7   Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8   For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

11:4, 5  Judah had become corrupt and was surrounded by hostile, foreign powers. The nation desperately needed a revival of righteousness, justice, and faithfulness. They needed to turn from selfishness and give justice to the poor and the oppressed. The righteousness that God values is more than refraining from sin. It is actively turning toward others and offering them the help they need.

11:3-5  God will judge with righteousness. How we long for fair treatment from others, but do we give it? We hate those who base their judgments on appearance, false evidence, or hearsay, but are we quick to judge others using those standards? Only Christ can be the perfectly fair judge. Only as he governs our hearts can we learn to be as fair in our treatment of others as we expect others to be toward us.

Chapter 11 11:1-9 Assyria would be like a tree cut down at the height of its power ( 10:33, 34 ), never to rise again. Judah (the royal line of David) would be like a tree chopped down to a stump. But from that stump a new shoot would grow—the Messiah. He would be greater than the original tree and would bear much fruit. The Messiah is the fulfillment of God's promise that a descendant of David would rule forever ( 2 Samuel 7:16 ).