United In Uniqueness: John 17:1-26
Focus Passage: John 17:1-26 (CEV)
If you ever wondered if Jesus prayed for you personally, then you may be surprised to learn that He actually did. While John, who wrote down this prayer, didn’t have space or time to include your name in the millions of others, He includes Jesus’ words that ripple through history down to you and me.
In this prayer, Jesus broadens the focus away from just His immediate disciples by saying, “I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.” (v. 20-21)
Jesus clearly states that this prayer is not just for His followers present on the night of His betrayal; He extends this prayer to include everyone else who places their faith in Him because of what His followers say about Him. By extending His prayer in this way, Jesus includes the followers of followers of followers throughout history until He reaches into the 21st century where we are currently in history. Jesus’ prayer is a prayer for each of us as well.
And not only is this a prayer for mission and protection, this is a prayer requesting help and guidance towards unity.
When being assembled into a large group, probably one of the biggest challenges people face in the group is staying united. It seems that the larger a group gets, the easier it is for it to fragment or split apart. Sadly, this has happened a number of times in Christianity’s history. Unity, even while we are all unique and diverse, was supposed to be one of the ways we could show the world that God was with us.
But most of Christianity’s fragmentation happened before we were born. While I’m not here to justify or condemn what happened in history between Jesus’ prayer for unity and where we are today, I am able to adjust my perspective, attitude, and focus in my own life.
This portion of Jesus’ prayer is a call to stay connected with Him, to connect with others who are living for Him, and to unite under the incredible truth of what He did for each of us on the cross. While we may disagree with others regarding other aspects of God, other beliefs, or other doctrines, probably the best place for us to start being united is under the cross, and specifically under the amazing truth of God’s love for us that led Him to the cross. Jesus died for everyone, and through His death He offers salvation to all who want to accept His gift – and while it is challenging for us to accept, this might include people who we don’t agree with.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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