"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 "Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."
John 17:20-26, the conclusion of the prayer of Jesus, becomes a prayer for the readers. The conclusion of this final prayer of Jesus is that the witness of the church might bear fruit. Jesus prays for those who believe through the word disciples. That word is a present reality. The text refers to future believers in Jesus, especially those who believe Jesus is the Son of God. They come to believe through the disciple's word. They are Gentiles and Jews. Abiding and mutual indwelling as John views it involves abiding in a sphere of being, and this abiding in love is the union that unites believers to each other, as well as to Jesus and the Father.[1]
20"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. Sadly, the phrase has become, to many, a cliché - and as such has become the rallying cry for the ecumenical actions among many denominations. Since the ecumenical implications of these verses were scarcely in Jesus' mind, it is important that we examine this passage in the context of Jesus' whole prayer, and his hope for the witness that would follow his death. The Holy Spirit binds believers together, being present in the church in the proclamation of the gospel and celebration of the sacraments by which the Spirit draws believers into the fellowship of the Son and confirms them in it.[2] In the gospel of John, "oneness" is a central symbol. Jesus and the Father are one (10:30; 17:11), and Jesus desires all who come to faith to be one (vv. 21, 23). There is to be one flock and one shepherd (10:16). Even seamless robe of Jesus (19:23-24) and the untorn net (21:11) show this wholeness, this oneness, in John's gospel. The work of Jesus has been to gather the people, save them and unite them into one. When Jesus prays that the disciples will be one, he asks that they may all live in God, as Jesus dwells in God. While believers desire "oneness," oneness has its contrast in unbelief and/or distance from God. John describes that state as being lost or scattered (17:12; 18:9). The oneness of those who believe in Jesus has two prominent features. First, they believe in Jesus, and their belief is more than adherence to Jesus, but a full appreciation of who Jesus is: One with the Father. Secondly, those who have faith unite in their commission to preach to other humans, with the belief that faith will result from this work. If the Paraclete bears witness to Jesus, the Paraclete has also done this through the disciples and future believers (15:26-27). The unity of the believers has its model in the unity of the Father and the Son - unity that is fundamentally a united purpose, expressing itself in a common mission and message. Verses 21b-23 has a strong parallelism in words. Heavenly unity is a source and model for the believing community. I am not sure how we can read this today without acknowledging that he disunity of the church is a scandal.[3] As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one. Jesus says that the oneness of the believers flows from giving to the believers the glory that the Father has given to him, so that unity comes down from the Father and the Son to the believers. The action, therefore, of the believers is not the primary source of unity, but the relation of the believers to the Father and the Son and the relationship of the believers to each other. Visible unity must be visible enough to challenge the world to believe in Jesus, offering the same type of challenge that Jesus first offered to the disciples: a challenge to recognize God in Jesus. The Spirit draws believers into the glory that he receives from the Father. In the act of the glorifying of Jesus as the Son, which also glorifies the Father in the Son, believers share in the fellowship of the Son with the Father. Therefore, they also share in the glory of God by which the Son changes their own lives into imperishable fellowship with the eternal God.[4]Arians used this verse, suggesting a moral unity between Jesus and the Father. Because glorifying by the Spirit effects the union of the Son with the Father as well as our own union with and in God, as we see here, Moltmann could link the consummation of salvation history in eschatology with the consummation of the Trinitarian life of God in itself. When all things are in God and God is “all in all,” then the economic Trinity is subsumed in the immanent Trinity.[5] The believers participate in the common glory of the Son and the Father.[6] 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. The unity and indwelling visible among the followers of Jesus challenges the world to believe in Jesus' mission. Believers are to be one now, to have an effect on the world. The gift of glory leads to the unity of believers and this in turn challenges the world to recognize Jesus. Through the disciples, the world will get another chance. The unity of believers will prove to the world that God has loved them. Part of that unity is the love they have for one another. 24Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.The prayer anticipates the passion of Jesus at this point. The love present within the Trinity is present because God is eternal love. [7] 25 "Righteous Father, an interesting way to address the Father, given that the righteousness of God is so meager in the teaching of Jesus.[8] Jesus then says to the righteous Father that the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." The prayer anticipates the passion of Jesus at this point. Jesus made God's name known to those who believe in him - this is in the past. Jesus' name has already proclaimed to them, and they will continue to do so. In the future, believers will make known Jesus' name to others. There will be a continuation of Jesus' ministry through the Paraclete and believing community. Whereas Jesus was with them only for a brief time and will come again only at the consummation, the Spirit will stay with them always in 16:14.[9] Kasemann emphasizes the theme of separation in John, yet the New Testament distrusts the world. One might wonder if the hope of joining Jesus in heaven precludes the apocalyptic hope we find in other parts of the New Testament. No, for though John has a realized eschatology, it does not preclude looking to the end. The goal of Jesus here is not so much a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1), but the gathering of souls into Jesus' heavenly home. This prayer ends on a theme of the indwelling of Jesus in the believers. It suggests a strong Covenant Theology. The discourse begins in 13:34 with a new commandment of love, and this new covenant - John has no explicit Eucharistic body and blood - recalls the Sinai covenant, when the glory of God that resided on the mountain came to dwell in the tabernacle, which was amid Israel (Exodus 24:16; 40:34). Jesus is the new tabernacle, and the divine glory dwells in him (1:14) - the human longing for the indwelling of God (cf. Isaiah 7:14) is accomplished in the Christ event. At the end of the prayer, in a covenantal setting, Jesus now promises to give the believers the glory that God gave to him.] [In verses 24-26, Jesus' wish is that believers be with him. We hear that God has already united the believers to Jesus here on earth.
The motion in John's gospel is downward and outward, and this prayer reflects that movement. Jesus descends to speak the truth of God and mounts up to God by means of the cross. In coming down and going up, Jesus gathers people to himself; up from darkness and lostness; from unbelief into life with God. To dwell in God and have God in one's life is "oneness." When Jesus prays that the disciples will be one, he asks that they dwell in God. Jesus is the One the disciples know as Lord and God (20:28), and he prays that for all eternity he may be in them.
We need to discuss the ecumenical element of these verses. Does it refer to church unity? If so, it is important in ecumenical discussion. Some would stress the diversity of Father and Son, however. In addition, B. Haring suggests it as a model for church organization. Note that unity has its origin in divine action and is not just a human endeavor. There is a vertical unity with Father and Son and a horizontal unity of believers symbolized in love. The fact that this union must be visible enough to challenge the world is against a purely spiritual union. Jesus challenged the world out of his unity with the Father. The community of believers challenges the world through its unity with Father, Son, and one another.
What does this prayer for unity mean? Jesus did not establish an organization. To fulfill its mission, however, the church of the first century gradually organized. Concerns grew regarding how Jewish and Gentile factions could remain unified. We need to share those concerns. I think of the differing cultures we see expressed in Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Pentecostal, high church, low church, and so on. The history of the church is far more about dividing and multiplying than about unifying. Yet, beneath these changes, the desire to follow Jesus is what unifies.
The prayer reflects a basic reality of life on earth. Life is interrelated. We are part of an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Reality has a structure of interrelatedness. Ponder the way our economics depends upon interrelationships. You may use a sponge made by a Pacific islander and a bar of soap by someone from France. You may drink coffee from South America or tea from China. You may drink your cocoa from West Africa. Your toast may depend upon an American farmer and the local baker. In other words, before you finish breakfast, you have depended upon half the world. The universe has such an interrelated structure and quality. We are not going to have peace on earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.[10]
Yet, this passage often leads people to suggest that we ignore real differences.
I find it hard to offer justification theologically, spiritually, or biblically for a plurality of churches that separate and mutually exclude each other. That type of plurality means a plurality of lords. Yet, good grounds for divisions exist. To study the history of the Vatican in the 14-1500s is to see that division needed to happen. Serious obstacles to the removal of such grounds exist as well. At the same time, every division is a riddle and scandal. I hope that our awareness of such division unites us in penitence. Our historical and actual division does not arise from Christ or from apostolic intention. When the risen Lord breathed the Spirit into the disciples, when the Holy Spirit fell upon the first followers of Jesus at Pentecost, the intent was not the plurality we experience today. To explain or justify is to accept it as normal and acceptable. When we turn to Christ and the apostolic witness, the call is to oneness. This oneness is the truth, regardless of history or our experience. I grant that the providential care of God is such that God has taken the scandal and turned into good (Romans 8:28).[11] We can be thankful that we have overcome many divisions of the past to the point where we do not mutually exclude each other from worship and witness together. Many Christian groups have advanced to a point where they accept the baptism from other groups and can unite in sharing the Lord’s Supper.
The theme of oneness has made me reflect upon the difficulty we human beings have in accomplishing it.
While in Vincennes, IN, I was the first pastor of the merged congregation now known as Community UMC. It was the result of the merger of three congregations, one of which had been a former Evangelical United Brethren Church. Each congregation had their unique gift to offer to the merger. At least two of the three did not have to merge, in the sense that they could have continued onward for many more decades just as they were. Yet, a respected layperson in the community began to discuss the possibility of merging. Through several months of discussions, eventually they voted to merge. A fourth congregation voted not to join. The congregations grew to know each other well before the merger. They started doing more things together. They pondered what they could do together for the cause of Christ that they could not do separately. They received some very good encouragement from the District Superintendent and from the Annual Conference. They had good lay leadership and they kept open lines of communication. They faced the challenges with courage. While we were constructing the new church building across from the High School, a moment came at a Board meeting when a difference of opinion made it look like the merger would fall apart right then. Then, one of the young men, a hog farmer who was from the church that had voted not to join, spoke a word that was from God. You could feel the tension leave the room.
I have been thinking of the image of the church as the Body of Christ. It suggests unity. Let us begin with a simple admission.
First, unity is difficult. If you study the history of the church, you discover that the church is far more about spin-offs and breakups than mergers. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to God, said Paul, but the churches find it hard reconcile to each other. The practical difficulty is that the culture and values of a body of people are important and deserve respect. Differing aims, refusal to adapt, and differing values, will split apart an existing group and keep unification from occurring. To put it bluntly, we must not make an idol out of unity. With the same force, we must not think of division so easily, as if to say it is like going from one room to another.
Second, we need to focus more on posture than position. The problem is not just difference. The problem is the struggle we have when we become so deep in our position that we can no longer respect the position of those who differ from us. Unity will be impossible when we have lost respect for those who differ. Yet, we are quick to defend our positions. Maybe we need further reflection on our posture. Look at the relationship between Jesus and the Father. Gaze upon its unity and togetherness. Gaze upon the love that flows between Father and Son. Here is the posture, the model, for how we are to be toward each other. We bring glory to God when we adopt that posture, regardless of the position we hold.
Third, unity and glory go together. "The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one as we are one" (John 17:22). "Glory" is a major theme in John's gospel, and here Jesus uses it to describe both what he has received from the Father and what he has given to his disciples. We reflect divine glory, of course, rather than glorify self, church, doctrine, or position. Focusing on divine glory makes clearer the path toward unity.
In addition, what is the revelation of this glory? We know this glory through our love for God and one another. "I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them," (John 17: 26). This is akin to what Jesus says in John 15:12, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." Notice the chain of love -- the Father gives his love to Jesus, Jesus gives it to us and we give it to one another.
An icon of the Holy Trinity was painted by Andrei Rublev in 1425. Artists always painted the last supper with peculiar seating arrangements. Leonardo da Vinci oddly (if you think about it) put Jesus and all the disciples along the same one side of a long table, not just so we could study their faces and gestures, but so we might acknowledge a place for ourselves across the table from our Lord, from the saints of old. Rublev depicts Father, Son, and Spirit as angels occupying three sides of a table, with the fourth side open, inviting the viewer to join them. Henri Nouwen notes that this icon is not simply a lovely decoration. If we place ourselves in front of it, we “experience the gentle invitation to participate in the intimate conversation” taking place. The invitation is there to join them around the table.[12]
This is my destiny, my identity, my hope – and it is your destiny, and that of the person next to you. Think of the most difficult person in your life to whom you must relate. Remember this. God made that person for this destiny as well. Here is a holy invitation to have a secure place at the table of this Trinity of tender love.
Rublev painted this icon during a time of political turmoil and hatred, a striking stroke of hope in troubled time. Is this not our most desperate desire? That our only hope during harsh times is being drawn into that holy circle of love? This is glory, knowing there is a place in God’s own heart, for me. This is my desire, my joy, my reality, my truth.
This is unity. In a world of strife, in a place where there is no peace, we try to resolve conflicts by applying force. We seem willing to beat the other into submission, literally or metaphorically. We seem content with the superficial unity gained by truces and by policing one another. However, true unity is an offer to us to reside in the remarkable home that is ours with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit painted so peacefully by Rublev. Jürgen Moltmann put it like this:
Through their tenderly intimate inclination towards one another, the three Persons show the profound unity joining them, in which they are one. The chalice on the table points to the surrender of the Son on Golgotha. Just as the chalice stands at the center of the table round which the three Persons are sitting, so the cross of the Son stands from eternity in the center of the Trinity. Anyone who grasps the truth of this picture understands that it is only in the unity with one another which springs from the self-giving of the Son “for many” that men and women are in conformity with the triune God.[13]
Our glory is our belonging in the loving life of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our glory implies unity, and our unity is our glory. Yet, we are not good at unity, even in church.
One of the questions we might ask ourselves often as we merge with Jesus' vision is this: Are we working toward becoming the church for which Jesus prayed? Corporations have a tough time pulling off mergers because everyone tends to be in it for themselves. Could Christians successfully merge because we are in it for God's glory, mission and love -- and nothing else? That would truly be a marriage made in heaven!
Arthur Burns, a Jew in Washington DC, offered this prayer. "Lord, I pray that you would bring Jews to know Jesus Christ. I pray that you would bring Muslims to know Jesus Christ. Finally, Lord, I pray that you would bring Christians to know Jesus Christ. Amen." Not only did he startle those present with refreshing directness, but he also underscored a point about 'Christians' and 'Christianity' that needs repeating regularly. It highlights another important aspect of the truth of calling: Calling reminds Christians ceaselessly that, far from having arrived, a Christian is someone who in this life is always on the road as 'a follower of Christ' and a follower of 'the Way.'"[14]
[1] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 183.
[2] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 134.
[3] Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.1 [62.2] 677.
[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 11.
[5] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 1, 330, referring to Moltmann, Crucified God, p. 265-66, and Trinity, 125ff, 126-27, 160.
[6] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 625.
[7] (Barth, 2004, 1932-67) II.1 [28.2] 279.
[8] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology volume 1, 434.
[9] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 453.
[10] --Martin Luther King Jr., from "A Christmas Sermon on Peace," First delivered at the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he served as co-pastor. On Christmas Eve, 1967, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired this sermon as part of the seventh annual Massey Lectures. ecoflourish.com. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
[11] – Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.1, G. W. Bromiley, trans., Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark, 1956, pp. 675–677
[12] (Henri Nouwen, Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons [Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1987], p. 20.)
[13] (Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God [Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993], p. xvi.)
[14] Os Guinness in his book, The Call (1998), p. 101.
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