A Meditation on John 17, for the Last Sunday of Easter

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

 As thou hast sent me into the world,

even so have I also sent them into the world.

And for their sakes I sanctify myself,

that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Neither pray I for these alone,

but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

That they all may be one;

as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,

 that they also may be one in us:

that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

The 17^th chapter of John’s Gospel is sometimes known as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, which He offers among His disciples before He is betrayed, taken away, tortured, and executed by the collaboration of His Jewish countrymen and their Roman occupiers.  He knew where He was going, what He was about to endure, what He would accomplish through His suffering and death, and that He would rise again the third day victorious over every enemy of the human race.  Jesus offered this prayer in anticipation of the victory He would achieve for us through His Cross, knowing that as He sanctified Himself in His Father’s will for the salvation of mankind, everyone who would be united to Him by faith would receive His sanctification by grace.  Jesus knows that God’s Word is sanctifying truth, because He himself is the very Logos, the Incarnate Word of the Living God.

Much has been made of Jesus’ call to unity over the centuries, and usually from a position of political power.  Within the Church, there’s been no shortage of pastors or bishops calling for unity of the people under their leadership, as if they themselves would be the author or the instrument of Christian unity.  Outside the Church, many call for unity around politicians, or movements, or ideals, some certainly much better than others.  In our current day, politicians and media outlets call for unity in huddled fear of a novel virus unlikely to seriously harm over 99% of the world’s population.  This fear has permeated even the majority of Christian fellowships, blended with political rivalries, with most having suspended the gathering of the people through the entire season of Easter.  Now, as at all times, human calls and attempts at unity often either rally around the wrong things, or produce ridiculous results; sometimes they do better than others, as when nations rally to unite against evil and tyranny, but even at our best, such unity is often fractured with mixed motives and murky results.

It is important to note that Jesus’ prayer in John 17 isn’t to His disciples, but for His disciples.  This is a key difference.  Unlike the bizarre trends in contemporary prayer where people sometimes use them to preach and coerce an “amen,” Jesus is addressing His Father alone in this prayer.  Jesus confesses the surety that God’s Word is Truth, that He will be sanctified to save everyone who trusts in Him as the Incarnate Word of God, and according to His Word asks the Father to unite all those who believe in Him.  Notice that the actor in Jesus’ prayer is God, not man.  Jesus doesn’t tell His disciples to build some kind of global religious-political empire with a Caesar sitting on an earthly throne, surrounded by princes in a cascading hierarchy of worldly power.  He doesn’t tell them to overthrow various governmental structures so they can build a utopia on earth through worldly political philosophy.  He doesn’t tell them to find the most charismatic and persuasive entertainers, and unite behind a cult of personality.  Jesus’ command to His disciples was to love one another, and to abide in His Word, that they might live by grace through faith in Him alone.  The unity which would emerge among His disciples would be a unity born of God, His Holy Spirit indwelling all who repent and believe, that they might live in Jesus and Jesus live in them.  This is a unity which doesn’t need political statements of communion fellowship or various church leaders to bless it—but rather, it is a reality recognized by every believer, who sees the seal of the Holy Spirit in his fellow brothers and sisters, who together abide in the Word of Christ.  It is a unity not born of man but of God, and it is a unity undaunted by paltry human efforts to endorse or ratify it.

The One who creates Christian unity is God alone, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Man does not create unity, anymore than man can create the Word of God, or be in himself the sanctifying Truth which saves all who believe in him.  When we stop trying to do what God alone has promised to do, we find a peace and confidence that transcends all striving and effort.  For God’s will shall be done, and Jesus’ prayer for Christian unity shall be accomplished—in fact, is already accomplished among everyone who will repent, believe, and live in Him.  When we turn from our hatred and fear, love one another as Jesus loves us, and abide in His Word of Law and Gospel, we find our unity not by our own efforts, but by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in and among us, uniting us to the Father through the Son by His gifts of grace and faith.

As the Church steps from the season of Easter to the season of Pentecost, may we all learn to see more clearly our unity in Jesus and His Eternal Word.  There, in Jesus alone, we find a fellowship which is not bounded by time or space, which is not marred by human sin and wickedness, but endures in the purity and truth of His sanctifying Word of grace.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.