Jesus said these things now so that we would know the "full measure" of His joy. He wants us to appreciate the full extent of what He has achieved on the cross (Eph 1:18). There is a stark contrast between this joy and the attitude of the world towards us. We have been given the Word of God, this changes us, it means that we are no longer citizens of the world, but citizens of the kingdom of God, so we are now enemies of the world.
Jesus does not pray that we will be taken out of this situation, but that God will protect us in it. This is a principle we can often apply to our lives. Our natural reaction is usually to plead to be taken out of dangerous situations. However, our prayers are more likely to be answered if instead we pray for God's protection in the situation. Note that it is the evil one that we are protected from. As Paul said, our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers (Eph 6:12).
We need to be purified, sanctified, and it is the Word of God that sanctifies us. Jesus sends us just as the Father sent Him. There is a remarkable parallelism between the relationship between the Father and Jesus, and His relationship with us. We have been saved no just so that we can "go to heaven when we die", but so that we can be the people God always intended us to be and that we can do the works of God (Eph 2:10).
Jesus does not pray that we will be taken out of this situation, but that God will protect us in it. This is a principle we can often apply to our lives. Our natural reaction is usually to plead to be taken out of dangerous situations. However, our prayers are more likely to be answered if instead we pray for God's protection in the situation. Note that it is the evil one that we are protected from. As Paul said, our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers (Eph 6:12).
We need to be purified, sanctified, and it is the Word of God that sanctifies us. Jesus sends us just as the Father sent Him. There is a remarkable parallelism between the relationship between the Father and Jesus, and His relationship with us. We have been saved no just so that we can "go to heaven when we die", but so that we can be the people God always intended us to be and that we can do the works of God (Eph 2:10).
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