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.