While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.
Yesterday we looked at the question, “What is in a name?” The right name, it seems, carries with it the power to protect.
Jesus says that he kept the disciples safe. Safe from what? On one occasion we find Jesus protecting the disciples from a storm at sea. At times he protects them by keeping them away from Jerusalem. Once, he protected one from death by calling him back from the grave.
All these threats are common to mortals. I have been in a sinking boat in a large lake. I know what being rescued feels like. I have been in threatening situations. I know what escaping those feels like, too. I have even been near death on one or two occasions, so I understand these threats that Jesus protected his disciples from.
Even so, I wonder if that is the kind of threat that Jesus was talking about. Maybe there is a threat he considers more dangerous than any of these.
From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Satan is in the background pulling the levers that ramp up the Pharisee’s hate and rage. It is Satan who tempts Jesus in the wilderness, and Satan who will cause Peter to deny Jesus three times. In all this, the name of Jesus stands like a wall around his disciples. The demons know his name and fear him. Knowing that the disciples belong to Jesus, knowing that in a very real sense they wear the name of Jesus, they are protected from the darkness.
Jesus offers freedom from Satan’s grasp: sin, guilt, shame and worldly desires. He protected his disciples, and he protects us today. The name of Jesus is a rock of salvation and a wall of protection.
Food for thought: What is the difference between physical protection and spiritual protection?
While both are important, one is temporal and the other is eternal.
We aren’t promised physical protection, but instead that we will face trials and have hope in the resurrection of our bodies. We are promised protection from the evil one and that Jesus will be with us till the end of the age. Spiritually and Physically we face trials but have an eternal hope and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.