John 18:8-9

The scene is the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of Jesus' betrayal. The big crowd of soldiers have come out to arrest Him.
Jesus answered, "I have told you that I AM. Therefore if you seek Me, let these go their way," that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of those whom You gave Me I lost none."

In the last year, I have frequently been confused by "that the saying might be fulfilled." Today in Bible class we ran across another one. I couldn't figure out WHY the soldiers' letting the disciples go would have anything to do with Jesus' not losing them. I mean, in the High Priestly Prayer when Jesus said that God would allow none of the disciples to be lost (except Judas), He was talking about their faith. But when Jesus told the soldiers to let the disciples go free, that was a temporal matter, a matter of whether or not the disciples were getting the handcuffs. I couldn't figure out why the lack of the disciples' arrest would fulfill the saying.

After I had explained my question to Pastor several different ways, he suddenly understood what I was asking and had an answer. If the disciples had NOT been let go by the soldiers, if they had been dragged along with Jesus and put on trial, if they had been beaten, they could not have borne it. They would have been destroyed. They could not have endured it. They would have been lost. But Jesus could not allow them to be lost, so He could not allow them to be tested beyond what they were able. So they were let go ...

that the saying might be fulfilled.