Jesus Prayer For Unity

Introduction:

John 17 records for us Jesus prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the Mount of Olives, just moments before His betrayal by Judas, his arrest, and ultimately, his crucifixion. This prayer is a beautiful display of the humility of Christ and the love he has for those who belong to Him. In a time of great sorrow, despair, and agony; a time that was so intense that Luke 22:44 tells us

Luke 22:44 NKJV

44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

In those moments, moments so intense that an angel was even sent to strengthen him, most of the time was not spent praying for himself but praying for others. There is so much to learn from that, prayer is not meant to be a selfish wish list for God, but time spent praising him and lifting up others.

His prayer was three fold: He prayed for himself (v.1-5), his disciples (v.6-19), and then all believers then and in the future (v.20-26).

In praying for himself, he prayed that through him, the Father would be glorified.

In praying for his disciples, he prayed, for them to be kept from the evil one, that God would sanctify them through His word, and that God would keep them together in unity. That they would be one, just as Christ and the Father are one. That their unity would be just as strong as the unity between he Godhead.

Christ knew that his disciples lived in a divisive world then and he knew that the world would always be a divisive place.

Prejudice, competition, lust, selfishness, egotism, hurt, anger, pride and hatred ruled the day they lived in and rules the day in which we live as well.

Divisiveness comes from the depraved and sinful nature of mankind, the very nature that Christ came to save and to change.

That divisive world was a threat to the disciples and it is a threat to the Lords church today. Living in a divisive world can influence and lead astray both the early church and the church today.

Allow me to say it again, “Gods people, the church, are to be just as unified as Christ and the Father are.”

Now you know that statement to be true, but what does it mean?

We are to be one in nature, character, and purpose just as Christ and the father are.

Christians are to live and walk in unity with other christians, to behave like christians should behave, and to give every fiber of our being to living out and proclaiming the gospel.

This is the prayer of Christ for both His disciples and all believers.

Now, let’s examine together this morning, Christs prayer for unity in His body (the Church.)

1.) He prayed that believers may all be one. (v.21-22)

This is imperative in the church, and is the central theme of Christ’s prayer in John 17.

Believers must be one!

A.) Our Standard is Christ and His father- The very same kind of unity they have is to be the ours as well.

B.) The Purpose- “That the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”  – We know from scripture that Christ was sent by God the Father.

John 8:42 NKJV

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

We know that Jesus came that man may have life (eternal) and have it more abundantly.

John 10:10 NKJV

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

And, when we are not one in unity, we create a divided witness of Christ’s purpose, and a divided witness confuses the Gospel message.

A divided body presents a divided message.

Our lips proclaim one way but our life together in the church declares there are many ways. Disunity declares many different messages, and the message of the Gospel is not that there are many ways ways to God, but that there is only one way to God.

John 14:6 NKJV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Believers must be unified in proclaiming the message of the Gospel, because when we are divided, our message becomes: what’s wrong with the church instead of what’s so great about Christ. And that simply should not be!

2 Corinthians 4:3 NKJV

3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,

C.) The Source- Gods glory.

It is the glory of God that unites believers and brings the church together. When God’s people experience God’s glory it unites us in being, unites us in character, and unites us in purpose.

First, we give our lives to Christ, then we give our lives to each other in the church.

To help each other to become the new creatures in Christ that he has made us into. 

To live righteously and holy as new creatures should live.

 To proclaim the glorious message of Christ to the world.

None of that can or will happen unless the church is one in unity.

2.) He prayed that believers be perfected in unity. (v.23)

Perfect

Greek: teleioo (tel-i-o’-o)

It gives the idea of a perfection of purpose. It has to do with an end, an aim, a goal. It means fit, mature, or fully grown at a particular stage of growth.

It does not mean perfection of character (w/o sin).

It is fitness or maturity for task and purpose. It is full development, maturity of godliness.

Christ’s prayer was that the church be “perfected” or “mature” in unity, “perfect” or “mature” as one body.

The mature believer will do good to all men. He shows love both to enemies and friends. There is an absolute necessity that believers live together in unity.

The world is full of those who have not been reached with the Gospel. Our communities are full of those who have not been reached with the Gospel, we as the Lord’s church must be unified enough to penetrate the world around us with the gospel.

God is willing, loving, and powerful enough to reach the world with the gospel through the church. The problem does not lie with God, it lies in the local church (us as believers), we lack love and unity for each other. We are too wrapped up in selfish ambition and disagreement to get the job done.

The prayer and concern of Christ was that we be “perfected in love.”

Now, I want you to notice two truths this verse teaches us:

A.) The source of unity is the indwelling presence of Christ. “I in them, and thou in me…”

God (the Father) is in Christ, and Christ is in God (the Father). “I and my Father are one” Jesus said.

That means, christian, you are indwell by God. When you partook in Christ, you partook of the divine nature of God. That is what can/does pull us together when preference and opinion, personalities, or anything else divide us.

B.) The reason to be perfected or mature in unity is so that the world may know that God sent Jesus into the world to save it.

4 times, in this chapter, Christ prayed for unity and each time it is something different and each time it gives a strong message to the believer.

The unity of God’s name (v.11) – Jesus called upon God’s name in vs. 11 to keep believers from a divided world and divided influence. 

The unity of God’s protective power (v.15) – Jesus called upon God’s power to deliver believers from the evil of the world and the devil. 

The unity of witness (v.21) – Jesus prayed that the world might believe that God the Father sent Christ, through a unified witness. 

The unity of love (v.23) – Jesus prayed that the world would know that God sent His sin through the unified love his people would have for each other.

There is a world of difference between a unity of witness and a unity of love. The lost may come to hear the gospel through a unified witness but they will only come to know (believe) the gospel by a unified love amongst God’s people.

People are starving for love, real genuine love, not the shallow physical love offered by the world, but a deep and sacrificial love that gives all that it has. The love of God and Christ. The love, we as believers only know about. It is our job to demonstrate that love to the world!

1 John 3:16 NKJV

16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Conclusion:

Jesus concludes His prayer with a third request in vs. 24, that those who call upon him would be with him in glory. So that we can behold the glory bestowed upon him by the love of the Father.

Then in vs. 25-26, Jesus ends his prayer by saying this “that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Do you see that Jesus prayed to the father for his people to just love each other? For, in so doing, we show the love of Christ.

Are we easy or deserving for Christ to love? No

Do we always act worthy of his love? No

But, He loves us in spite of us.

Church, in order for unity to happen in the body, we must love each other like Jesus. Love each other in spite of each other.

Why? So we don’t muddy our message. So the world can see Christ in us, as Christ showed the world God in Him.