John 17:13-16

¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

Have you heard of or played an Escape game? This is an adventure game where you have to find clues or items to help you escape from where you are. 

In our Daniel series, picture Daniel in a kind of escape room. He was a captive in a strange land, to be brainwashed to serve their king. But how to escape? Firstly, don’t upset your enemy – he enjoyed the favour of his oppressors. Secondly, differentiate yourself from the locals – he would not eat as the local elite. But most importantly, Daniel trusted God to show him the way out. 

Daniel prefigured Jesus, who allowed himself to be taken out for us, to enable our escape. Jesus trusted God with every moment of his life, and so ‘escaped’ the devil, our wrongdoings and death. 

Similarly, we Jesus followers are also held captive by the world, our own deceitful desires, and the evil one, the devil. Jesus’ prayer for our “escape” was that as we battle against these enemies, we would have the full measure of his joy. As we image Jesus’ love to those around us, remember Jesus’ prayer for us to experience joy – a happiness independent of circumstances, and protection from the evil one. 

Sean Kluyts