And I do not pray for these alone, but for those also who
shall believe on Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You,
Father, are in Me, and I in You, that
they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent
Me. And I have given them the glory which You have given Me, that they may be
one, even as We are one, I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect
in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them
as You have loved Me. (Joh 17:20-23 MKJV)
A Divine Concern
One of the first things we should recognize is the
obvious, the fact that Jesus thought “being one” was worthy enough to make it
into His public prayer life. It is
the public prayers of Christ that most readily attract our attention and these usually surround events of great
importance. Occasions like Gethsemane immediately come to mind. We should have
no doubt that anything Jesus openly addressed in prayer, was a concern to Him,
and in turn, should be a concern to us. It is also worth noting that the
concerns Jesus addressed at the time, had no real immediate relevance,
suggesting to us that the prayer foresaw a time in the future, when “being one”
would eventually become a pressing concern. That being said, Jesus’ prayer did also include
those disciples present, “And I do not
pray for these alone,” which also suggests that such concerns over “being
one” would present itself in the immediate near future. At this point, the
question that begs asking is why, why of all the things that may have
preoccupied the Savior at the time, does He seem to pray so vehemently for
unity?
A Divine Definition
Today, it is unfortunate to look upon all the division we
see in the Body of Christ, most of which begins primarily on doctrinal grounds.
However, the question is whether what we perceive in a divisional sense today,
was in fact, what Jesus was concerned with when He prayed that we be one. In
Jesus’ prayer He reiterates twice a theme that seems to characterize His
concern. Jesus in essence prays that His disciples, present and future, would
have an oneness equal to that illustrated in the trinity itself, specifically in order that the world might
believe that Jesus had come from the Father. To instruct fellow believers to be
one as Christ was in the Father and the Father was in the Son, is quite
remarkable. On the surface, it would not appear that the oneness was a reference
to a theological persuasion, but that is not to say that Jesus and the Father
were inseparable as such. Jesus repetitious use of the word “in” seems to be a
dominant characteristic of His appeal. The word “in” becomes significant,
because in chapter sixteen Jesus has just finished speaking of the coming and
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This fits well into Jesus’ analogy. The world
knew the Father was in Christ because of the power that proceeded from Christ in
the works He performed, these testified of one working greater within Him. It
is worth noting that on more than one occasion Jesus appeals to the works He is
performing as a testimony to the power within Him, and that the acts He
performed were a direct revelation from the Father. If one takes at face value
what is being said, and considers the context of what Jesus has just previously
said, it appears that Jesus is referring to oneness as a cause and effect, not a
scenario for potential theological differences. It would not be a stretch to
paraphrase Jesus this way, “Father, let them be one in us, as I am one in you,
let the power which flows from you to me, flow from us through them, so that
the world may know they belong to us, the way they knew I belonged to you.” Knowing that Jesus has just mentioned such a
divine unity and oneness brought about through the coming and indwelling of the
Holy Spirit, suggests clearly that the prayer was a reference to the effectiveness
of the relationship that would exists between the two. The oneness that Jesus speaks of here, appears
to be the relationship and effectual working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of
His followers, essential if the world was to know that Christians had been sent
from God and had been deliberately empowered to bear witness of Him.
A Developing Disaster
This brings us to consider the divine appeal and the
implications themselves. One unmistakable aspect of Christ’ ministry was that
if it had not been for the miracles and supernatural working of God’s Spirit
through Him, no one would have given Him the time of day. This would become
even more critical as His disciple began to go out on His behalf after the
ascension. That being said, after all these years, how critical would you
suppose that dynamic is today? According to Jesus, millions going out without
the power of God evident and flowing through their lives, is absolutely
fruitless and pointless. Jesus knew the stubbornness of the human heart, He
knew of the veil over the mind, and more importantly, He knew it would take
something more to convince a lost world than just the mere words of men. Now
this is not to say we are all to manifest miracles as Christ and the early
apostles, but it is to say there is to be a clear outward working of an inward
unmistakable divine dynamic based on our becoming one with Him. While we focus
on unity as what each one believes differently, Jesus’ concern was that He
would be in us, like God’s Spirit was in Him, and that the fruit of that oneness
would be that the world could witness the power of God and know He sent us.
Unfortunately we have become a people of thoughts and ideas, rather than a
people who possess and emanate the power of the living God wherever we go. The
developing disaster is characterized by an emphasis on going, rather than on
the nature of who is going. Our
prayer today should be as Jesus prayed then, Lord, make us one with you and let
the power of that oneness be evident to all, Lord may others be drawn to your
power working in me! Jesus’ prayer was simple, Father don’t let them attempt
anything without being one with Me, which explains much of the mess we have
today.
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
2/26/2015
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