Gospel Note
This passage is a portion of Christ's "high priestly," parting prayer for the disciples he is leaving behind. In it, "the world" is treated largely as a hostile environment, under Satan's control, and Jesus' followers as foreigners who, like their Master, are "in" but not "of" the world. At the same time, the prayer presupposes that these foreigners are about to set out on a mission in and for the world, for which they need divine consecration and protec…