Jesus Prays for Our Unity
John 17:20-23
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I’d like you to turn in your Bibles to John 17 once again. We are ever so close to the end of this chapter. And when this chapter ends, we’ll be done with our series, believe it or not. We’ll probably be done with the upper room narrative in the next week or two.
But this morning we are going to begin that last section of John 17. You may remember that there are three main divisions of Jesus’ prayer. In verses 1-5 he prays for himself. |
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But this morning we are going to begin that last section of John 17. You may remember that there are three main divisions of Jesus’ prayer. In verses 1-5 he prays for himself. In verses 6-19 he prays for his disciples (the ones there in the upper room with him). And today we’re going to begin to tackle the last section, where he prays for us. He’s praying for the future generations of disciples who would come to faith through the apostles and on down through history.
As I have said before, it’s fun to think that Jesus has been praying for us for at least 2000. And what is it that he prays? Well, let’s find out. Let’s read John 17:20-23:
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 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. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Introduction
My wife mentioned last week that she’s appreciated going through this section of Scripture because so much of it sounds like a tongue twister. That’s no doubt the case in this section: I in you and you in me and me in them and them in us.
But all of these phrases are furthering the idea of our unity. When Jesus prayed for you and me, the first thing he prayed for was our unity. That obviously was something very important to him. For he prays that we would be one three times in these couple of verses.
I always think it is fun to see how passages of Scripture line up with what is going on in the world too. We work our way through Scripture verse by verse. And here we are talking about unity when it would seem that we are almost un-unified. We're each confined to our homes and unable to come to worship due to the virus. So it would seem like we are not experiencing the unity of the church.
But the Lord wants to impress upon us that our unity is rock solid. And it's great to have this topic for today. What I’d like us to do is ask 4 questions about this unity:
• What kind of unity does he speak of?
• What is the purpose of this unity?
• What constitutes this unity? (what are the conditions that make it possible?)
• What can we do to advance this unity?
The question that I want to begin with is "What kind of unity is Jesus intending?" So let's think about its nature for a moment.
I. The nature of it
Let’s begin by talking about what it is not. This is not necessarily what we call an organizational unity. You know that I’m a denominational guy. I belong to the PCA and am proudly a Presbyterian. And one of the things that is distinctive of Presbyterian church polity is that we are a connectional body. We are united to other churches in any given area and throughout the united states. That is one of the ways we try to show our unity.
But this organizational structure is not what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is talking about something much deeper than this.
I mention this because there is often a huge emphasis on external unity and this verse is often cited as a support for that. People love to emphasize the outward and structural unity.
This is one of the big draws for the Roman Catholic Church today. There are people who are converting to Roman Catholicism and one of the reasons they are doing so is because they look at the RCC and say, “Look, here is a unified church.” You don’t have all this splitting and denominational fracturing that is found in the Protestant tradition. You don’t have independent Catholics. They are very much one, at least that’s what they claim.
But even outside the RCC church you see this push for structural unity. Not many years ago there was what was called the ecumenical movement. It was a movement within Protestantism that emphasized the coming together of churches. It was something that many liberal and mainline churches pushed for. There were conservative churches that got caught up in it too.
But even though I think that organizational unity can be good and does have its place, I do not want you to think that this passage is advocating for mere structural unification. There’s something much greater than having the same name on the placard outside your building.
So you should say, “If it’s not organizational unity that he’s praying for, what kind of unity is it?” Well, if you look at the text you can see that it is a spiritual unity. He’s talking about a unity that goes much deeper and has a particular parallel to the unity which characterizes the Godhead.
Look at what it says in verse 21. He says “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.” And verse 22 says essentially the same thing. “That they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me.”
What’s he talking about here? He’s talking about the unity that exists between the Father and the Son. It is the unity that is basic to the Trinity.
Now the Bible tells us that there is only one God, but he exists in three equal but separate persons. We do not believe in three different gods. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each share the same divine substance. So as to their essence, they are one. So despite their each being distinct persons, they have this wonderful unity that they share. There is a spiritual bond that is mysterious, but most certainly real. And they live in fellowship with one another on a level that is incredible and they enjoy full and complete unity.
The unity that we have with one another is not the same as the unity within the Godhead. But it is parallel to it. It is a unity that is at its foundation spiritual in nature. It is a oneness that goes much deeper than any kind of organizational unity.
This is why Hopewell can exist in the way it does. We are a mixture of Baptists and Presbyterians, and who knows what else. There is unity that extends beyond our congregation into other churches in our area. We have unity with Christians all around the world. That’s because we have a radical, invisible unity that bonds us together in the deepest kind of fellowship.
So just because we have a different structure or name out front of our building; just because we differ in certain beliefs when it comes to the end times or political theory or baptism, doesn’t mean that our unity has been sacrificed. We might worship in different buildings, but that does not fracture the church unity. It stands because God has brought us together in this unique and powerful way.
And this is always something to keep in mind. If we understand the nature of our unity and how it parallels the unity of God, we won’t fall into the silly notion that structural unity is the be-all-end-all.
But let’s talk about the purpose of this unity. Jesus prays that we would be united (and of course, there’s no way to break this unity), but he has a particular purpose for praying for it. And that’s what I want you to notice in verse 21.
II. The purpose of it [21]
Jesus prays that we would be united “so that the world may believe that you sent me.” Now, this may sound like an evangelistic thing. And there very well may be some truth to that. Some people may come to faith because of the testimony that God gives in and through his united people.
But I think that we should understand this in a broader sense. I believe that the word “world” here is expressive of the wider populous of the world. And the word “believe” does not have to mean saving faith kind of believing. The world can believe in that they have a certain understanding or a solid impression that God’s Son has come into the world and done something miraculous.
So what I’m saying is that the purpose of this unity is to provide a certain testimony that the world cannot deny. Even unbelievers will have some degree of understanding that Jesus Christ is the heaven sent Son of God and has done something miraculous in this world; something that cannot be done without the power of God.
Let me illustrate:
When I was in Israel I talked with a lady by the name of Dottie. Dottie was one of the people who coordinated our trip. She told me the story about one of the Jewish ladies with whom she worked. This lady’s name was Tal. Tal was a tour guide and she confided in Dottie one day. Tal grew up in Jerusalem and she saw first hand the tension that existed between people. People in Jerusalem are always fighting with each others. There are Muslims and Jews and Christians of different stripes all living together in this one city. And all of them are of the more radical type because Jerusalem is regarded by all of them as a holy place. So Tal knows quite well the animosity that exists between people.
But one of the places that Dottie and Tal went on one of their tours was to an evangelical seminary school in (I believe it was) Tel Aviv. And there in that school they witnessed Arabs and Jews sitting side by side studying the Bible. They were not arguing with one another. They were not wanting to cut each others’ throats. They were perfectly at peace with one another. They had both professed faith in Christ and become believers. And there was no reason for them to fight against one another. They had been united. They had been brought into God’s family and enjoyed the blessing of being two brothers in the Lord.
Now, Tal has not professed faith in Christ. But she was able to see first hand the radical power of the gospel. Whether she acknowledges it or not, she has a first hand understanding that there is something unique about Christianity. There’s an underlying power. There’s a unique bond that we experience in Christ. Tal may not convert. She may not fully understand it. She probably could not tell you about it in any clear terms. But a sure message has been sent and she knows in her heart of hearts that there’s something to this Jesus guy. He’s obviously not just some random fellow in any old religious text who has fables and stories written about him. She knows that there’s something supernatural about Jesus.
Jesus was able to accomplish something she had never witnessed before. Jesus was able to do something she probably thought wasn’t even possible. All her life she had seen nothing but hostility between these two sects. And, if she were honest, she would have to say that something had been done there that could never be accomplished by any kind of peace treaty or political agreement. These two men had become genuine brothers.
Now, I understand that there are a lot of people out there that will gripe and moan about how Christians are all divided and can’t seem to agree on anything. They’ll say that this is the reason they cannot believe in the Christian God.
But may very well be the exceptions to the rule. Or it may be that they are working harder to suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. There can be no doubt though that the wonderful, spiritual unity is radically different from the disunity, disharmony, fragmentation, and loneliness that is found in the world.
As Jean Paul Sartre, that unbeliever and existential philosopher once said, “Hell is other people.” That is certainly one of the slogans of the kingdom of darkness. But it is not the testimony of God’s family. And the world can see the difference. Even in our disagreements, they can see that we have a wonderful underlying union – founded upon Jesus Christ.
There’s another question that I’d like to ask today. I want us to think about the conditions for our unity. We should ask, “What is our unity founded upon?” That is answered in the very first part of verse 20.
III. The conditions for it:
Jesus says he prays for those who will believe in him through their word. That word is nothing other than the gospel. It is the Bible: the Scripture which the disciples would proclaim and have written down on paper.
You may also say that this is the glory that Jesus talks about in verse 22. God has given Jesus glory and Jesus says he has given that glory to his disciples. Obviously, this is not talking about the divine glory he has as the Son of God. That is not given to us. What he does give is his word, which has its own glory.
And this is what our unity is conditioned upon. Anyone who accepts the gospel and adheres to the word of God is someone who has brought into the family of God.
This is why a least common denominator Christianity never works well. This is why we do not have unity with many people. They reject God’s word. They reject the gospel. And since they are out of accord on that vital point, there is discord (not unity).
This is what we find in the early church. Their unity grew out of the gospel. In Acts chapter 2 it says that the followers of Christ were dedicated to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship and the breaking of bread. These are all elements of the gospel.
The apostle’s teaching, well that’s clear enough. That is the word of God. They were also dedicated to the fellowship. That word is actually koininia, which means “having in common.” The idea of fellowship is that you have something in common. And what is it we have in common? It’s the gospel.
Then there is the breaking of bread. That could be another expression of the fellowship (they ate together and started having potluck dinners). Or it could be a way of talking about the Lord’s Table, breaking bread in the sacrament. If that’s the case, it is merely the gospel made visible.
That was their unity though. That was where they found their unity.
And again, this is why we can be unified, despite our differences in certain theological matters. We are unified on the elements of the gospel and we stand together recognizing the authority of God’s word. We may not have the same views on some more minor matters, but we have the essentials. I may say that we have in common the majority of our beliefs, specifically those surrounding the person and work of Christ. So those Baptists and Presbyterians and Pentecostals and so forth all have different churches and some varying believes, but there is still the unity in doctrine that brings us together.
But those who reject these things: they do not have this unity with us. They are adversaries because they have denied the faith, once for all delivered up to the saints.
Which then leads me to the last point I want to make.
IV. The advancement of it
I recognize that this unity is something that God does. It is spiritual and is only a bond that can be established by him. But we can further the unity. Just because it is God’s sovereign work, that does not negate our responsibility to preserve and further that unity. Or, as our text says in verse 23, that our unity would be perfect.
How do we do that?
Well, one way is obviously through Scripture. The more we come to a knowledge of it, the more we will be unified right? There’s no substitute for growing in Scripture.
The other way is very much connected to this. You’ll notice that our passage talks about another union. There’s the unity of the Godhead, which we talked about. There is our unity with each other. But there’s also our union with Christ.
Jesus signifies this union when he says in verse 23, “I in them.” I would say that this is the means to perfecting our union, by concentrating on our union with Christ. The more we find our satisfaction in him and draw near to him, the more we will be knit more solidly to each other.
Do you understand? Our unity is advanced not our drawing closer to each other so much as it is drawing towards the Lord. The more you love Jesus, the more you will love and connect with his people.
Imagine standing in a circle around a football field. Maybe there is a track around the field. We’re all standing spread out around that track. Let’s say that Jesus was standing at the middle of the football field, right there at the 50 yard line. Now we could try to get closer to one another. I could walk towards John and Dave could walk towards Joe. But we wouldn’t be any closer as a whole unit. There may be certain groups who are more connected, but not everyone.
Now imagine we began walking towards Jesus. What would happen? We’d not only be coming nearer to Christ, we’d be coming nearer to one another. The circle would begin to condense and less and less space would be between us.
That’s the way it is when it comes to maximizing unity among believers. The more you seek the face of Christ through prayer, his word, his worship, the more you will be drawn together. The more you glorify Christ and the more you become obedient to him, the more you will see that unity enhanced.
So, as we thank God for what he has done and admire the wonderful unity he has given us, let’s also do our best to advance it by pursuing our union with him.
As I have said before, it’s fun to think that Jesus has been praying for us for at least 2000. And what is it that he prays? Well, let’s find out. Let’s read John 17:20-23:
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 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. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Introduction
My wife mentioned last week that she’s appreciated going through this section of Scripture because so much of it sounds like a tongue twister. That’s no doubt the case in this section: I in you and you in me and me in them and them in us.
But all of these phrases are furthering the idea of our unity. When Jesus prayed for you and me, the first thing he prayed for was our unity. That obviously was something very important to him. For he prays that we would be one three times in these couple of verses.
I always think it is fun to see how passages of Scripture line up with what is going on in the world too. We work our way through Scripture verse by verse. And here we are talking about unity when it would seem that we are almost un-unified. We're each confined to our homes and unable to come to worship due to the virus. So it would seem like we are not experiencing the unity of the church.
But the Lord wants to impress upon us that our unity is rock solid. And it's great to have this topic for today. What I’d like us to do is ask 4 questions about this unity:
• What kind of unity does he speak of?
• What is the purpose of this unity?
• What constitutes this unity? (what are the conditions that make it possible?)
• What can we do to advance this unity?
The question that I want to begin with is "What kind of unity is Jesus intending?" So let's think about its nature for a moment.
I. The nature of it
Let’s begin by talking about what it is not. This is not necessarily what we call an organizational unity. You know that I’m a denominational guy. I belong to the PCA and am proudly a Presbyterian. And one of the things that is distinctive of Presbyterian church polity is that we are a connectional body. We are united to other churches in any given area and throughout the united states. That is one of the ways we try to show our unity.
But this organizational structure is not what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is talking about something much deeper than this.
I mention this because there is often a huge emphasis on external unity and this verse is often cited as a support for that. People love to emphasize the outward and structural unity.
This is one of the big draws for the Roman Catholic Church today. There are people who are converting to Roman Catholicism and one of the reasons they are doing so is because they look at the RCC and say, “Look, here is a unified church.” You don’t have all this splitting and denominational fracturing that is found in the Protestant tradition. You don’t have independent Catholics. They are very much one, at least that’s what they claim.
But even outside the RCC church you see this push for structural unity. Not many years ago there was what was called the ecumenical movement. It was a movement within Protestantism that emphasized the coming together of churches. It was something that many liberal and mainline churches pushed for. There were conservative churches that got caught up in it too.
But even though I think that organizational unity can be good and does have its place, I do not want you to think that this passage is advocating for mere structural unification. There’s something much greater than having the same name on the placard outside your building.
So you should say, “If it’s not organizational unity that he’s praying for, what kind of unity is it?” Well, if you look at the text you can see that it is a spiritual unity. He’s talking about a unity that goes much deeper and has a particular parallel to the unity which characterizes the Godhead.
Look at what it says in verse 21. He says “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.” And verse 22 says essentially the same thing. “That they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me.”
What’s he talking about here? He’s talking about the unity that exists between the Father and the Son. It is the unity that is basic to the Trinity.
Now the Bible tells us that there is only one God, but he exists in three equal but separate persons. We do not believe in three different gods. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each share the same divine substance. So as to their essence, they are one. So despite their each being distinct persons, they have this wonderful unity that they share. There is a spiritual bond that is mysterious, but most certainly real. And they live in fellowship with one another on a level that is incredible and they enjoy full and complete unity.
The unity that we have with one another is not the same as the unity within the Godhead. But it is parallel to it. It is a unity that is at its foundation spiritual in nature. It is a oneness that goes much deeper than any kind of organizational unity.
This is why Hopewell can exist in the way it does. We are a mixture of Baptists and Presbyterians, and who knows what else. There is unity that extends beyond our congregation into other churches in our area. We have unity with Christians all around the world. That’s because we have a radical, invisible unity that bonds us together in the deepest kind of fellowship.
So just because we have a different structure or name out front of our building; just because we differ in certain beliefs when it comes to the end times or political theory or baptism, doesn’t mean that our unity has been sacrificed. We might worship in different buildings, but that does not fracture the church unity. It stands because God has brought us together in this unique and powerful way.
And this is always something to keep in mind. If we understand the nature of our unity and how it parallels the unity of God, we won’t fall into the silly notion that structural unity is the be-all-end-all.
But let’s talk about the purpose of this unity. Jesus prays that we would be united (and of course, there’s no way to break this unity), but he has a particular purpose for praying for it. And that’s what I want you to notice in verse 21.
II. The purpose of it [21]
Jesus prays that we would be united “so that the world may believe that you sent me.” Now, this may sound like an evangelistic thing. And there very well may be some truth to that. Some people may come to faith because of the testimony that God gives in and through his united people.
But I think that we should understand this in a broader sense. I believe that the word “world” here is expressive of the wider populous of the world. And the word “believe” does not have to mean saving faith kind of believing. The world can believe in that they have a certain understanding or a solid impression that God’s Son has come into the world and done something miraculous.
So what I’m saying is that the purpose of this unity is to provide a certain testimony that the world cannot deny. Even unbelievers will have some degree of understanding that Jesus Christ is the heaven sent Son of God and has done something miraculous in this world; something that cannot be done without the power of God.
Let me illustrate:
When I was in Israel I talked with a lady by the name of Dottie. Dottie was one of the people who coordinated our trip. She told me the story about one of the Jewish ladies with whom she worked. This lady’s name was Tal. Tal was a tour guide and she confided in Dottie one day. Tal grew up in Jerusalem and she saw first hand the tension that existed between people. People in Jerusalem are always fighting with each others. There are Muslims and Jews and Christians of different stripes all living together in this one city. And all of them are of the more radical type because Jerusalem is regarded by all of them as a holy place. So Tal knows quite well the animosity that exists between people.
But one of the places that Dottie and Tal went on one of their tours was to an evangelical seminary school in (I believe it was) Tel Aviv. And there in that school they witnessed Arabs and Jews sitting side by side studying the Bible. They were not arguing with one another. They were not wanting to cut each others’ throats. They were perfectly at peace with one another. They had both professed faith in Christ and become believers. And there was no reason for them to fight against one another. They had been united. They had been brought into God’s family and enjoyed the blessing of being two brothers in the Lord.
Now, Tal has not professed faith in Christ. But she was able to see first hand the radical power of the gospel. Whether she acknowledges it or not, she has a first hand understanding that there is something unique about Christianity. There’s an underlying power. There’s a unique bond that we experience in Christ. Tal may not convert. She may not fully understand it. She probably could not tell you about it in any clear terms. But a sure message has been sent and she knows in her heart of hearts that there’s something to this Jesus guy. He’s obviously not just some random fellow in any old religious text who has fables and stories written about him. She knows that there’s something supernatural about Jesus.
Jesus was able to accomplish something she had never witnessed before. Jesus was able to do something she probably thought wasn’t even possible. All her life she had seen nothing but hostility between these two sects. And, if she were honest, she would have to say that something had been done there that could never be accomplished by any kind of peace treaty or political agreement. These two men had become genuine brothers.
Now, I understand that there are a lot of people out there that will gripe and moan about how Christians are all divided and can’t seem to agree on anything. They’ll say that this is the reason they cannot believe in the Christian God.
But may very well be the exceptions to the rule. Or it may be that they are working harder to suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. There can be no doubt though that the wonderful, spiritual unity is radically different from the disunity, disharmony, fragmentation, and loneliness that is found in the world.
As Jean Paul Sartre, that unbeliever and existential philosopher once said, “Hell is other people.” That is certainly one of the slogans of the kingdom of darkness. But it is not the testimony of God’s family. And the world can see the difference. Even in our disagreements, they can see that we have a wonderful underlying union – founded upon Jesus Christ.
There’s another question that I’d like to ask today. I want us to think about the conditions for our unity. We should ask, “What is our unity founded upon?” That is answered in the very first part of verse 20.
III. The conditions for it:
Jesus says he prays for those who will believe in him through their word. That word is nothing other than the gospel. It is the Bible: the Scripture which the disciples would proclaim and have written down on paper.
You may also say that this is the glory that Jesus talks about in verse 22. God has given Jesus glory and Jesus says he has given that glory to his disciples. Obviously, this is not talking about the divine glory he has as the Son of God. That is not given to us. What he does give is his word, which has its own glory.
And this is what our unity is conditioned upon. Anyone who accepts the gospel and adheres to the word of God is someone who has brought into the family of God.
This is why a least common denominator Christianity never works well. This is why we do not have unity with many people. They reject God’s word. They reject the gospel. And since they are out of accord on that vital point, there is discord (not unity).
This is what we find in the early church. Their unity grew out of the gospel. In Acts chapter 2 it says that the followers of Christ were dedicated to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship and the breaking of bread. These are all elements of the gospel.
The apostle’s teaching, well that’s clear enough. That is the word of God. They were also dedicated to the fellowship. That word is actually koininia, which means “having in common.” The idea of fellowship is that you have something in common. And what is it we have in common? It’s the gospel.
Then there is the breaking of bread. That could be another expression of the fellowship (they ate together and started having potluck dinners). Or it could be a way of talking about the Lord’s Table, breaking bread in the sacrament. If that’s the case, it is merely the gospel made visible.
That was their unity though. That was where they found their unity.
And again, this is why we can be unified, despite our differences in certain theological matters. We are unified on the elements of the gospel and we stand together recognizing the authority of God’s word. We may not have the same views on some more minor matters, but we have the essentials. I may say that we have in common the majority of our beliefs, specifically those surrounding the person and work of Christ. So those Baptists and Presbyterians and Pentecostals and so forth all have different churches and some varying believes, but there is still the unity in doctrine that brings us together.
But those who reject these things: they do not have this unity with us. They are adversaries because they have denied the faith, once for all delivered up to the saints.
Which then leads me to the last point I want to make.
IV. The advancement of it
I recognize that this unity is something that God does. It is spiritual and is only a bond that can be established by him. But we can further the unity. Just because it is God’s sovereign work, that does not negate our responsibility to preserve and further that unity. Or, as our text says in verse 23, that our unity would be perfect.
How do we do that?
Well, one way is obviously through Scripture. The more we come to a knowledge of it, the more we will be unified right? There’s no substitute for growing in Scripture.
The other way is very much connected to this. You’ll notice that our passage talks about another union. There’s the unity of the Godhead, which we talked about. There is our unity with each other. But there’s also our union with Christ.
Jesus signifies this union when he says in verse 23, “I in them.” I would say that this is the means to perfecting our union, by concentrating on our union with Christ. The more we find our satisfaction in him and draw near to him, the more we will be knit more solidly to each other.
Do you understand? Our unity is advanced not our drawing closer to each other so much as it is drawing towards the Lord. The more you love Jesus, the more you will love and connect with his people.
Imagine standing in a circle around a football field. Maybe there is a track around the field. We’re all standing spread out around that track. Let’s say that Jesus was standing at the middle of the football field, right there at the 50 yard line. Now we could try to get closer to one another. I could walk towards John and Dave could walk towards Joe. But we wouldn’t be any closer as a whole unit. There may be certain groups who are more connected, but not everyone.
Now imagine we began walking towards Jesus. What would happen? We’d not only be coming nearer to Christ, we’d be coming nearer to one another. The circle would begin to condense and less and less space would be between us.
That’s the way it is when it comes to maximizing unity among believers. The more you seek the face of Christ through prayer, his word, his worship, the more you will be drawn together. The more you glorify Christ and the more you become obedient to him, the more you will see that unity enhanced.
So, as we thank God for what he has done and admire the wonderful unity he has given us, let’s also do our best to advance it by pursuing our union with him.