There are so many good things in today’s Scripture.
Here we have the “High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus, which John records right before His time in the Garden before His betrayal and arrest.
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 17:3 (ESV)
Jesus gives us so much in His prayer to the Father for His disciples – whom He knew would desert Him and struggle to regain their footing following His death.
But we can see a few key points:
- They aren’t of the world (as He isn’t of the world)
- Jesus has shared the Truth with them; the Truth of eternal life by knowing God as the only true God and in Jesus whom the Father sent, made known through the very Word of God
- Unity is important and is found in Jesus for the sake of the saving Gospel of Jesus
The challenge for us is that we don’t see unity in the Body of Christ. Quite the opposite.
Many reasons abound for this, but the two primary ones are a lack of love in the Body and a lack of pursuance and steadfastness in the Truth in the Body.
The reality is, the Body of Christ’s Church is fractured because our sinful world is fractured. It is challenged because many in the Body love the world more than God, others, and the Truth.
But the reality is different from the perception of it.
The fact is, there is unity in Christ. Unity in His grace and mercy. In His Truth. Unity in His forgiveness. Unity of salvation.
Through Faith in Jesus (and Him only!), there is the one unifying Truth: Jesus saves!
That is a Truth to unify in! He is the Truth to unify in!
“Thank You, Jesus, for praying for Your Body, the Church. Thank You for unifying us in You; in Your Word, in Your Truth, in Your grace, in Your forgiveness, in Your life, in Your salvation. Grant us Your Holy Spirit so that we put aside this things which break us in our unity – our lack of love and our failure to hold to the Truth of You and Your Word. Help us live the unity we have in You through faith. In Your precious, holy, unifying Name do we pray. Amen.”
Scriptures
- John 17:3-8, John 17:14, John 17:17-23
- Psalm 133