Perfect in One – John 17:20-26

“In 1960, there were 90 million evangelicals. Today, there are over 600 million. During a span of a few decades, this sector of the Christian world has exploded.  In its growing community, a fellowship and organization has been at work, linking and building a remarkable network of indigenous evangelical alliances and fellowships in 130 countries. Formed in the mid 1800s, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is generally unknown, under the radar, and, more often than not, threadbare in its operation.”  So says Brian C. Stiller in his article on the World Evangelical Alliance:  Nurturing Unity in a Diverse World.  And he ends with this challenging question: “Could it be that of all we do alone, we might do better together? Might it be that the time has come that we would take the prayer of Jesus seriously – that we might be one, even as he and the Father are one?”

“I am not asking for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their message, that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in me and I in You, that they also might be in us, so that the world might believe that You sent me.  And I have given to them the glory that you have given to me, that they might be one as we are one.  I in them and You in me, that they might be made perfect in one, that the world might know that You sent me and You loved them even as You love me.”

“Father, what You have given me, I want them to be where I am also, that they might see my glory, which you have given to me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  Righteous Father, the world doesn’t know You, but I know You, and these know that You sent me.  And I have made Your name known to them and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me might also be in them and I in them.”  (John 17:20-26)

You would think that if anybody knew how impossible it is for his followers to be in perfect unity it would be Jesus.  He’s seen them arguing about who would be greatest in the kingdom.  But with God nothing is impossible and so he prays for their unity and ours, the kind of unity he has with the Father.  The Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in us and if we live in that reality the world will know that Jesus sent us and that the Father sent Jesus.  Unity is a powerful evangelistic/apologetic confirmation of the faith.  One that we evangelicals have struggled with mightily.

Jesus also prays that we might be with him in that place where his glory is displayed.  Jesus said he was going to the Father to prepare rooms in the Father’s house for his disciples.  This is the ultimate evidence of his love for us.  He wants us to live with him.  God gave Israel the tabernacle to dwell in their midst and signify His desire to be with them intimately.  Now this is being fulfilled through this intimate relationship we have with Jesus.

We see Jesus’ priority in his time here and ministry.  He says over and over, “that the world might know that You sent me.”  Jesus’ mission is to bring the world to faith in God.  Is it our mission also?

Discussion Questions

1. What could you point to in your life that you’ve gotten nearly perfect?
2. How in the world can Jesus have a prayer or expectation that his disciples be perfect in one, one like he and the Father?
3. Jesus anticipates and prays for his disciples to preach the message of the gospel to the world.  What role does their unity play in the proclamation of that message?
4. Why does Jesus want us to see his glory and why do we want to see it?
5. What is the role of love in unity?
6. Why do you think it is so easy for us to lose our commitment to world evangelization?