Jesus' Prayer

John records a prayer of Jesus's during the Last Supper. Jesus realizes his death, his resurrection, and his return to the Father are all near, and that the work of his Kingdom will fall to his disciples. So, he prays concerning the future of his followers.

He is thankful for those, who received him, and who will have a relationship with them -- Father and Son -- forever.

He prays for their continuing faithfulness. Not only are they entrusted with his Word, but they are now part of his family. So, they represent him in the world; and as a result, the world hates them, and is against them. So, he prays for protection. Especially that they maintain the truth.

And he asks for continued love, and unity. Not only among those who followed him directly, but also among those who follow Jesus through his disciples' testimony. Which means you, and me. He prays their unity would be like the unity of the Father and the Son. He prays that the unity of the family of God would be like the unity of God and himself. It is impossible to be more united than that.

Jesus says there are two important results of this kind of unity. This type of unity demonstrates that God sent Jesus. It also demonstrates that God loves those who follow Jesus with the same love as he loves Jesus.

Unity is a testimony of the truth of the gospel. In a world, where there are a million different types of Christians (twenty types of Baptist alone), I am not sure what this will look like. I am sure that many of the differences emphasized by these different groups are important aspects of God's truth. But I am also sure that Jesus' message about unity in his family, unity among those who give him their allegiance, is equally important. It is something which needs to be obeyed with as much intensity, and fervor, as any other teaching of Christ.

Jesus commands us to love one another to show we are his disciples. Jesus commands us to be united to show Jesus was really sent into the world by the Father. And it is the lack of these things, not manifested by the people of God, that most other people point to, as the reason why they are not followers of Jesus.

I do not think l love, and unity, necessarily mean we need to become one organization. But we do need to remember that all who give their allegiance to Jesus are one family. And we need to act like a family.

Grow in Love

There is a passage in one of Paul's letters, where he states: "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment." (ESV) At first, it looked like Paul was praying for growth in love, knowledge, and discernment. But, with a little more consideration, it looks more like Paul is praying for an increase in love, characterized by greater knowledge, and greater discernment.

Why would you need knowledge, and discernment, to love someone?

Well, first, do you know what love is? Nowadays, it seems like most people define love as complete acceptance. But I think the4 Bible defines loves as wanting, promoting, and working for the best for someone.

To love like Jesus, we do need to accept people. We can list of bunch of people, Jesus accepted:

• The women at the well.
• The women caught in adultery.
• Zaccheus.
• The rich, young ruler.

Jesus accepted them. But, because he loved them, he did not want them to stay where they were. It would be better if they moved on, gave allegiance to the Father, and live in a relationship with him.

So, we need to learn what love is. We need to know how to express it. And we need to discern what to express. Sometimes the best way to express love is with a hug. And sometimes the best way to express love is to tell someone they are messing up, what they need to do to clean up, and how to move forward.

We need knowledge, and discernment, to express love. And if we grow in knowledge, and discernment, we can express love more, and better.

New Command

During the Last Supper, Jesus gave a new command. To love as he loved.

Now, to love is not a new command. "Love your neighbor as yourself" was given back in Leviticus. This is a new command, because we are to love one another, like Jesus loved us.

How did Jesus love? He washed feet. He healed. He fed. He died on a cross to erase the punishment for sin, and give people a chance for a new relationship with the Father.

We might have a little trouble with following his example completely. We can't die for people's sin. We can't feed a bunch of people with a couple of English Muffins. But we can keep our eyes open. We can be alert for needs. And we can sacrifice our time, our energy, and our physical possessions to help, benefit, serve, and provide for others. Jesus says that this type of other focused, self denying, work was a demonstration of how we belong to him. It shows that we are followers of him.

One of the Roman Caesars noted how those rotten Christians not only fed their poor -- ie. needy Christians -- but also our poor -- meaning normal idolatrous Roman citizens. 

In the Middle Ages, Christians were seen caring for victims of the bubonic plague. And, eventually, catching the deadly disease themselves.

There are numerous examples of Christians building schools, and hospitals. There are examples of job creation. Like teaching a group of women a skill, so that can begin a business.

And there are, unfortunately, negative examples. In one city, after another hurricane, the city asked a large church if they could house some families, whose homes were destroyed in their building. And because the church was more concerned about possible damage to their property, rather than the lives of people, they said no.

No one is perfect. Especially not Christians. We need to learn to do as Jesus did. And we need to learn to see, think, and feel as Jesus did.

I have started to think of love as: wanting, and acting, to bring about the best for people. This includes physical needs. It also includes heart needs. (Spiritual, emotional, and psychological needs.) So, part of love is wanting, and working, for people to come into relationship with Jesus. Sharing the gospel, because one wants people to know Jesus, is an act of love. To pray for God's Spirit to move, and convince people's hearts about Jesus, is an act of love. To rejoice because someone moves away from something wrong, even if it is not a complete move, is a response of love. They are getting close to the best, closer to the truth.

Love is service, providing, and acting to promote the good of people. But it is also an attitude, and a perspective about people, and their direction in life. One that wants what is best. And understands what that best is.