John 17:11: Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.
Jesus would soon depart to the Father and leave His disciples in the world. They had to stay in the world to carry out God’s plan in spreading the good news of redemption and in planting the church. With the formation of the church, the history of the world has become, in a sense, “a tale of two cities”: the city of God and the city of man.
Since the disciples would be in the world, Jesus prayed for their protection. The hostility against God which fell on Jesus would now fall on the tiny band of apostles, and subsequently on many of Jesus’ followers. Jesus, in calling on His Holy Father, pointed up God’s distinction from sinful creatures. This holiness is the basis for believers’ separation from the world. He would protect them from the sin and enmity of the world by the power of His name. Why did Jesus pray for their preservation? It was to promote the unity of the believers, patterned after the unity of the Father and the Son: so that they may be one as We are One. The unity here seems to be that of will and purpose. 1
Your Word is Truth
Jesus made unity a top priority in HIs ministry. Is it a top priority in your marriage, your family, serving with others at your church, and in your workplace? Are you known as one who unites and encourages others, or as one who is contending with those who are leading?
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. –John 13:1
You Alone are God
If you’re not in unity with Jesus, you will not be in unity with anyone else. – TWEET IT
Your Will be Done
Lord, thank You for praying for Your workers to do your work.
1. Walvoord, John F., & Zuck, R. B., Dallas Theological Seminary. (1985). The Bible Knowledge Commentary.
