John 17:20–26
Today’s passage is the last part of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17.
Jesus
began by praying for the glory of God, then prayed for His disciples.
In today’s passage, He prays for all believers—those who would come to believe in Him through the disciples’ message.
Did you know that Jesus prayed for us 2000 years ago?
What did he pray for us?
I
want to look into today’s passage through three questions:
1)
What did Jesus pray for all believers?
2)
How can we be one?
3)
What is believers’ unity (oneness) for?
Through
Jesus’ prayer, may we learn about His hope and desire for us.
______________
Let’s
pray.
______________
Look
at verse 20.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also
for those who will believe in me through their message,”
Jesus prayed for those who would come to
believe in Him through His disciples. This includes all believers from the time
of Jesus until now, including us today, and even those who will believe in Him
in future generations.
1)
What did Jesus pray for all believers?
Verses 21–23. “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I
am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have
sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in
me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that
you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Jesus prays that all of the believers may be
one.
What does he mean by being one?
I was reminded of a photo taken five years ago
during my mandatory military training in Korea. All the men had shaved heads,
wore identical uniforms, and lived the same schedule for a month.
But Jesus does not say we should look alike, dress the
same, or live identical lives. That’s uniformity. What Jesus meant is unity,
being one in purpose, in mission, and in spirit.
More
importantly, he says, “just as you are in me and I am in you,” and again, “as
we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete
unity.”
The
phrase “just as” shows that the unity among believers should reflect the unity
between the Father and the Son. In other words, unified believers are called to
share the same purpose and mission, aligned with the perfect oneness of God the
Father and Jesus.
Then, what does the unity between the
Father and Son look like?
Jesus
repeatedly said that He and God are one.
John 10:30 I and the Father are one.
John 10:38 …that you may know and
understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.
John 14:10 Don’t you believe that I
am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not
speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing
his work.
The
author John also clearly declared the relationship between Jesus and God at the
very beginning of the Gospel.
John
1:1,2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Jesus
was with God in the beginning, and He is God. God the Father and Jesus the Son
are distinct persons, yet they are one God. This is the profound mystery of the
union between the Father and the Son—beyond human understanding.
The
Father and the Son have perfect unity. From the beginning until now, they have
shared the same goal and vision. With that shared purpose, they created the
world and formed mankind.
Genesis
1:26 Then God said, “Let us
make mankind in our image, in
our likeness, …”
Especially
when creating humanity, God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our
likeness,” revealing the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
At
the appointed time, Jesus humbled Himself and came to this earth in the flesh.
He
became a friend to the poor, the sick, and the outcast, and wherever He went,
He proclaimed the truth of God’s word.
John 14:10 Don’t you believe that I
am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not
speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing
his work.
Jesus
is in the Father, and the Father is in Jesus. The words Jesus says are not from
his own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in Jesus, who is doing his
work.
Even
as the cross drew near, He prayed for the glory of God and for God’s will to be
done. Jesus’ incarnate life was the very expression of union with God. The life
Jesus lived on earth is the perfect example of what it looks like to live in
complete unity with God. Jesus wasn’t praying for believers to be united in
Christian doctrines or denominational structures. He was praying for them to be
united in their relationship with Him, just as He is united with the Father,
marked by complete fellowship, love, and obedience.
2) How
can we be one?
Then how can believers be one?
At
the time of creation, humanity enjoyed perfect fellowship with God in the
Garden of Eden. They were in complete union with Him—lacking nothing. They
spent each day worshiping God and faithfully living out the mission He had
given them.
But Satan planted seeds of doubt in the human heart—doubt about God’s love and a prideful desire to become equal with God. Humanity disobeyed God’s command, and that disobedience was sin. Sin separated humans from God.
No
longer could humans walk in fellowship with God. Instead, life became a
struggle—marked by toil, pain, and competition just to survive each day. No
human effort, no good deeds, not even religious devotion could save people from
the power of sin and death.
At this moment in history, Jesus died on the cross and rose again, fully paying the cost of all humanity's sins once and for all. He completely triumphed over the power of sin and death.
When we come before the cross of Jesus, confessing all our sins and receiving Him as Lord, God will call us righteous because of Jesus and our broken relationship with God is restored. The perfect fellowship of love that humanity once enjoyed with God at creation is restored.
The church is the gathering of those who have made this confession. And Jesus Christ is the head of the church. (Col 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”)
Just as each part of the body has a different function but works together under the direction of the brain toward a common goal, the members of the church are united under Jesus Christ, our head.
Through
Him, we are brought into one purpose, one vision—this is true unity.
Apostle Paul confessed in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
When each believer deeply experiences the grace of salvation through Jesus, who died personally for them, and chooses to live for Him, unity becomes possible.
Each
member, with their unique gifts, works together to build up the body of Christ.
Col 3:14 “And over all these virtues put on love,
which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
When we love others with the love of Christ, we can truly achieve perfect unity.
Paul says in Philippians 2,
Philippians 2:1–4 “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
In your
relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature
God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own
advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a
servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:5–8
The Christian community that Jesus prayed for is a community that loves others by following the example of the love He first showed us.
On
our own, we cannot truly love one another or achieve unity.
But
when we continually remember the incredible love of Jesus—who, though He is the
Son of God, came to this world and loved us to the point of death—and when we
pray for His mindset to be formed in us, then, little by little, we can grow
into the complete unity that Jesus prayed for.
3) What is believers’ unity for?
Why did Jesus make the unity of believers one
of His highest priorities in prayer?
… so
that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Then
the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved
me.
Jesus prayed for unity among believers so that
the world would believe that the Father sent Him and see God’s love on them.
It is through the visible oneness of believers
that the world comes to recognize the truth of who Jesus is.
Believers are those who have received Jesus as
their Savior and have been saved. When a person comes before the cross,
confessing their sins, they are born again through the Holy Spirit. From that
moment on, the Holy Spirit dwells within them and empowers them to live
according to Jesus’ words.
1 Cor 2:14 “The person without the Spirit does
not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them
foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through
the Spirit.”
In contrast, unbelievers do not have the Holy
Spirit. They cannot recognize or understand the work of the Spirit. Instead,
they observe the lives of believers. That is why believers are to reflect the
unity between the Father and the Son, and demonstrate the love of God through
their lives.
1 John 4:12 “No one has ever seen God; but if we love
one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
Unbelievers can see the love of God—who sent Jesus—when they witness the loving lives of believers.
Satan constantly works to stir up division in this world. He encourages slander, jealousy, and hatred to prevent unity.
But when the love of Jesus—who loved us to the point of laying down His life—is reflected through the lives of believers, the world comes to recognize and know that love.
Look at verses 25 and 26.
“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you,
I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them,
and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may
be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Jesus prayed for us 2000 years ago, and he is still praying and will pray for us. Jesus continues to reveal God in our lives even now through the Holy Spirit.
In conclusion, Jesus has been in perfect union with God from the beginning, and when He came to this earth, He demonstrated through humility and obedience what a life united with God truly looks like. Believers are the body of Christ, with Jesus as the head. We are able to be one because we have all been saved from sin through the blood of Jesus and our relationship with God has been restored.
Jesus prayed that believers would reflect His love to the world through their lives. He prayed that through this witness, the world would come to believe in Him and also be united with us.
As we go into this week, let’s reflect on this:
As a
member of the body of Christ, how does God want to reveal Jesus through my
life?
And,
how can I walk in obedience to that direction?
Let’s pray.