20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one…
In the context of today’s passage is Jesus praying for the eleven disciples that He was with. So now He prays not for these only, the 11 disciples, but for those who will believe in Him through the word of the disciples, including Christians today. Jesus has asked that God glorify Him and protect Christians through the word filling them with His joy and sanctifying them. And now He prays that this same thing happen to believers down through the ages so that Christians see His glory, be filled with His joy, and be sanctified by the Word.
And Jesus now asks that these things happen in Christians so that they all be one. How does Christian unity really happen here in John 17 then? Jesus prays that the Word and Spirit fill believers with a knowledge of the Word that fills with the Joy of the Lord, that sanctifies them in the truth, and so they be unified. Jesus prays that Doctrine (teaching) from the word lead to Doxology and worship in Spirit and Truth and that this unite people.
The unity that Christians display down through the ages is designed by Jesus to display His relationship with the Father. God the Father and God the Son rejoice in each other and the truth of each other. Their infinite pleasure and joy in each other is their unity. Our seeing the glory of Christ and rejoicing in God with His Joy sanctifies us and unites us as the Godhead is united. God the Father is united to His Son in His seeing one another’s glory and rejoicing in each other. And thus, we display the glory of God that has been given to us. Breathtaking, isn’t it?
John 17:20-22
John 17:20-22
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one…
In the context of today’s passage is Jesus praying for the eleven disciples that He was with. So now He prays not for these only, the 11 disciples, but for those who will believe in Him through the word of the disciples, including Christians today. Jesus has asked that God glorify Him and protect Christians through the word filling them with His joy and sanctifying them. And now He prays that this same thing happen to believers down through the ages so that Christians see His glory, be filled with His joy, and be sanctified by the Word.
And Jesus now asks that these things happen in Christians so that they all be one. How does Christian unity really happen here in John 17 then? Jesus prays that the Word and Spirit fill believers with a knowledge of the Word that fills with the Joy of the Lord, that sanctifies them in the truth, and so they be unified. Jesus prays that Doctrine (teaching) from the word lead to Doxology and worship in Spirit and Truth and that this unite people.
The unity that Christians display down through the ages is designed by Jesus to display His relationship with the Father. God the Father and God the Son rejoice in each other and the truth of each other. Their infinite pleasure and joy in each other is their unity. Our seeing the glory of Christ and rejoicing in God with His Joy sanctifies us and unites us as the Godhead is united. God the Father is united to His Son in His seeing one another’s glory and rejoicing in each other. And thus, we display the glory of God that has been given to us. Breathtaking, isn’t it?