Tag: safe

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.

Continue reading “The Wall – John 17: 12a”