Scripture: John
17:1–11
This reading takes place during the Last Supper and is
called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer because he prayed for his followers as he
prepared to leave them, save them, and make them one in himself. If we read the
rest of the prayer we would find that Jesus prayed for all people who would
believe in him, including us and those who believe through our witness. We are
again confronted with Jesus’ purpose to save all people and the necessity of
faith in Christ to be saved, and then to be unified as his people.
Teaching
I was sitting with a politician and he was giving me his
critique of the Church. He stated that we were far too divided and that we
watered down our impact by our own infighting between denominations. And he
said, “Jesus prayed for his people to be united, and you are about as far from
unity as you can be.” What the politician didn’t acknowledge in that
conversation was the essential nature of Jesus’ Word for Christian unity. Jesus
himself emphasizes that keeping his Word is central in making us one. And the
sad fact is that when churches do not keep God’s Word there will be disunity.
It is, of course, no small thing that Jesus prayed for his
people – prayed for us – to be one. He even prays that God would guard his
people. This is part of the work of the Holy Spirit, whose special presence is
celebrated after this coming Sunday on Pentecost. God’s people are never alone.
God answers Jesus’ prayers and does indeed guard his people through the Word of
God and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Life
As we deal with our brothers and sisters in Christ –
regardless of their denomination – there should be a sense of unity with them.
They are, after all, saved by the same Lord Jesus who shed his blood to redeem
us! Yet, where there are differences of doctrine – varying understandings of
what the Scriptures teach, and not merely human traditions – we should
acknowledge there is division there. We should speak to one another and call
one another back to the Word of God and Jesus himself as the source of our
one-ness, and we should pray for all of our brothers and sisters in Christ as
we do whenever we pray, “Our Father….”
Don’t let people bully you on the point that Jesus prays for
his followers to be one; as though that overrules knowing the One True God in
Jesus and keeping his Word. Remember that when disunity arises from
misunderstanding and misrepresentations of God’s Word, we are to prefer the Word
of God, while praying for unity that comes when we all trust and keep God’s
Word.
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