Perfected In Unity
The Upper Room Discourse • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Handout
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
The conclusion to the prayer.
Jesus ends His very intimate prayer to the Father here, before His betrayal.
The betrayal will culminate in the Father turning His presence away from Jesus because of the sins that Jesus is bearing.
Unity - vv. 21-23
Presence - v. 24
Love - vv. 25-26
UNITY: vv. 21-23
UNITY: vv. 21-23
21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
21 ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσιν, καθὼς σύ, πάτερ, ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν σοί, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ὦσιν, ἵνα ὁ κόσμος πιστεύῃ ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας.
“in order that” = purpose
“in order that” = purpose
“all ones might be/become one/unified/solidarity” = present active subj.
“all ones might be/become one/unified/solidarity” = present active subj.
“one” = 4x’s
The fifth request from Jesus to the Father.
This request is that the brethren who have been given to the Father might be unified to the highest level.
Let’s examine this unity:
“all” not some of them.
Jesus wants comprehensive and total unity among these men.
Not these men alone or only, but also those who are disciples because of the word of these men.
20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
Those who believe in Jesus Christ as a result of the ministries of these men, are also in view.
The nature of this unity is not superficial, but ontological, from our natures.
What does this look like?
“You, Father, are in Me and I in You...”
“You, Father, are in Me and I in You...”
27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 “I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”
Jesus said that He and the Father are “one.”
The Father was “in” Christ.
This must have been spiritually, or “mystically.”
The Father dwelt inside Jesus Christ in some way.
10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
What to understand:
If the Father was in Christ, then Christ would certainly produce the works of the Father.
If the Christ was in the Father, then He was deity.
If both, or either, is in us, then we are the most and impossibly privileged.
How can this be?
On what basis can God be “in” us?
Word Pictures in the New Testament John 17:21
The only possible way to have unity among believers is for all of them to find unity first with God in Christ
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St John, Volumes 1 & 2 The Prayer of Jesus for All Future Disciples (vv. 20–26)
There is no suggestion of a unity of organisation, such as that which appears in Paul’s conception of the Church as one body with many members, each performing its appropriate function (Rom. 12:4f., 1 Cor. 12:12f.). No biological analogy is offered here to assist us in comprehending the sense in which Christians are intended to be one. Jesus had said already that His sheep would ultimately be One Flock, even as they had One Shepherd (10:16). But the mystical phrases used in this passage transcend even that thought. For He prays that the unity of His disciples may be realised in the spiritual life, after the pattern of that highest form of unity, in which the Father is “in” the Son and the Son “in” the Father. This unity, however, as appertaining to Christian discipleship, is not invisible; it is to be such as will convince the world of the Divine mission of the common Master of Christians. And He has already explained that the badge of this unity is love, the love of Christian for Christian which all men may see (13:35).
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St John, Volumes 1 & 2 Jesus the Good Shepherd (vv. 11–30)
It has been customary, following the habit of the patristic commentators, to interpret these significant words in the light of the controversies of the fourth century. Bengel, e.g. (following Augustine), says: “Per sumus refutatur Sabellius, per unum Arius”; the words thus being taken to prove identity of essence between the Father and the Son, while the difference of persons is indicated by the plural ἐσμέν. But it is an anachronism to transfer the controversies of the fourth century to the theological statements of the first. We have a parallel to ἕν ἐσμεν in 1 Cor. 3:8, where Paul says ὁ φυτεύων καὶ ὁ ποτίζων ἕν εἰσιν, meaning that both the “planter” and the “waterer” of the seed are in the same category, as compared with God who gives the increase. A unity of fellowship, of will, and of purpose between the Father and the Son is a frequent theme in the Fourth Gospel (cf. 5:18, 19, 14:9, 23 and 17:11, 22), and it is tersely and powerfully expressed here; but to press the words so as to make them indicate identity of οὐσία, is to introduce thoughts which were not present to the theologians of the first century.
Illustration:
8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
8 ὁ φυτεύων δὲ καὶ ὁ ποτίζων ἕν εἰσιν, ἕκαστος δὲ τὸν ἴδιον μισθὸν λήμψεται κατὰ τὸν ἴδιον κόπον
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians 3:5–9. General Definition of the Christian Pastorate
ἕν εἰσιν. Are in one category, as fellow-workers; consequently it is monstrous to set them against one another as rivals. As contrasted with God, they are all of one value, just nothing. But that does not mean that each, when compared with the other, is exactly equal in His sight. The other side of the truth is introduced with δέ.
I can’t improve upon Paul to explain how this looks among the disciples:
12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; 23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. 29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? 30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.
“…that the world may believe that You sent Me...”
“…that the world may believe that You sent Me...”
The same wording as 17:8.
The disciples believed that He sent Christ.
Jesus intends to see the same effect on the world.
This can’t mean that He expects the entire population of the planet to become disciples.
It would be ideal to see it as some within the planet to become disciples because of our unity.
Jesus requests that the organic level of unity of the believers would be the reality of the church.
This condition is NOT:
Hypocritical
Superficial
Secular
Without Christ/His Word
False
22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
22 κἀγὼ τὴν δόξαν ἣν δέδωκάς μοι δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, ἵνα ὦσιν ἓν καθὼς ἡμεῖς ἕν
Statement A-> statement B = unity of brethren<-unity of godhead
“The glory which You have given Me…”
“The glory which You have given Me…”
What is this glory?
Categories of “glory”:
The radiant glory of light emanating from God
The radiant glory of light emanating from God’s throne.
The honor due God for His nature.
The honor due God for His works.
The condition of the saints in the future.
The condition of the saints promised to them.
The future quality of New Jerusalem.
Which of these were given to Christ?
The radiant glory of light emanating from God
The radiant glory of light emanating from God’s throne.
The honor due God for His nature.
The honor due God for His works.
The condition of the saints in the future.
The condition of the saints promised to them.
The future quality of New Jerusalem.
Jesus has been given the honor due Him because of His glorious nature, as well as His merit for His life and death.
The Father honors Jesus by giving Him light and glory.
This list of glory which the Father has given to Jesus, Jesus has also gifted to these men, and to us.
However, we are not praised for our nature, works, or our contribution in the New Jerusalem.
But, we participate in those things and, therefore, we receive this glory.
The reason for sharing in this glory is so that we might be one (in glory!!) just as the Father and Son are One.
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. 12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. 17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. 18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; 26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; 27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
This action of mutual possessions (as I have said) is the same behavior as the Father to the Son and the Son to the Father.
“All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
The result of this action within the godhead is now extended to these men (and us!)!
Again, these are normal, ordinary, men.
They are not super-saints worthy of this highest honor because of their astute intelligence, and supreme piety.
It was actually because of their impiety and normalness that makes them useful.
This is because any fruit for their ministry will obviously be from God working in them, and not their own power.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
23 ἐγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ σὺ ἐν ἐμοί, ἵνα ὦσιν τετελειωμένοι εἰς ἕν, ἵνα γινώσκῃ ὁ κόσμος ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας καὶ ἠγάπησας αὐτοὺς καθὼς ἐμὲ ἠγάπησας.
“one”
Jesus is in us, the disciples, by the New Covenant.
The work of Jesus in each of us is a mutual relationship with each other that reflects that union of Father and Son.
PRESENCE: V.24
PRESENCE: V.24
24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
24 Πάτερ, ὃ δέδωκάς μοι, θέλω ἵνα ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ κἀκεῖνοι ὦσιν μετʼ ἐμοῦ, ἵνα θεωρῶσιν τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἐμήν, ἣν δέδωκάς μοι ὅτι ἠγάπησάς με πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου.
“be with Me where I am...”
“be with Me where I am...”
Indicates that this is Jesus’ desire because it is the Father’s original desire!
Where will Jesus ultimately be?
In His eternal kingdom.
He will rule and reign and govern over the Millennial kingdom as well as the new heavens and the new earth.
We will also reign with Him.
This is eternal for sure.
26 ‘He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star.
4 ‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 ‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
12 ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
LOVE: VV. 25-26
LOVE: VV. 25-26
25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;
25 πάτερ δίκαιε, καὶ ὁ κόσμος σε οὐκ ἔγνω, ἐγὼ δέ σε ἔγνων, καὶ οὗτοι ἔγνωσαν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας
Jesus and the disciples know what the world does not know.
“known” = relationship/reconciliation
May also refer to intimate knowledge.
The sense is that only Jesus Christ as has free relationship based upon God’s nature and standards.
No one else does.
The world is utterly void of knowledge of God.
19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.
6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
26 καὶ ἐγνώρισα αὐτοῖς τὸ ὄνομά σου καὶ γνωρίσω, ἵνα ἡ ἀγάπη ἣν ἠγάπησάς με ἐν αὐτοῖς ᾖ κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτοῖς.
“I have made Your name known to them...”
“I have made Your name known to them...”
Jesus divulged the Father to the men.
This is so that the result may be that the love that the Father has for the Son might be in these men, and that Jesus might be in these men.
What does this look like?
“…and will make it known...”
“…and will make it known...”
Possibly a future revelation after glorification.
In their ministries they will pray in Jesus’ name.
In doing so Jesus will let them approach the Father freely.
This is because they have believed.
26 “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.
“…so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them...”
“…so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them...”
cp. John 17:5
5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
It is likely that this love is the glory that the Father and Son and Holy Spirit had before the world began.
The Father’s love for Jesus is the disciples, and Jesus in them.
The Father’s love:
35 “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.
Jesus in them:
20 “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
John 12–21 (2) The Postresurrection Coming of Jesus (14:18–24)
The “inter-indwelling” of the Father and Son would serve as the pattern of the “inter-dwelling” of Jesus and his followers. Such reciprocal indwelling does not mean that both sets of the parties are fully equal, but the latter statement must be understood to be a picture of the closest possible relationship between Jesus and his followers without any hint of equality
Conclusion
Conclusion
IN closing, let’s take a look at what the NT stays about unity, and maybe we will see it in a different light:
Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.