John 17:15 - Exposition

The prayer of Jesus based on this. I pray ( ἐρωτῶ , not αἰτεω ; see John 17:9 ; the ἵνα here defines the contents of the prayer) not that thou shouldest take them away— lift them up and out— out of the world , as thou art taking me by death. This natural desire on the part of some of them is not in harmony with the highest interests of the kingdom. Those interests it would henceforth be their high function to subserve. There is much testimony for them to bear, there are many great facts for them completely to grasp, many aspects of truth which they must put into words for the life and salvation of souls , individuals for them to teach and train, victories for them to win, examples which they must set before the world. If they are all to vanish from the eyes of men as Christ will do, the end of the manifestation will be sacrificed. The Lord prays, not that they should be taken out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them ( τηρήσῃς , not φυλάξῃς ) from the evil . The ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ is different from Matthew 6:13 , ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ , and may possibly mean "from the evil one." Reuss, Meyer, and Revised version accept the same translation here in virtue of 1 John 2:13 ; 1 John 3:12 ; 1 John 5:18 ; Revelation 3:10 , where the devil is regarded as dominating, the realm, the atmosphere, the spirit, and the kingdom of this world. Over against this kingdom the Lord Christ, as the devil's great Rival, rules in the kingdom of grace. Luther, Calvin, Hengstenberg. Godet, Authorized version, and numerous other commentators, have regarded τοῦ πονηροῦ as neuter, as referring to the great characteristic and all-subduing temper, the far-reaching glamour and the godless disposition of the world. τὸ πονήρον includes ὁ πονήρος .