John 17:20-26: That They May Be One

John 17:20-26: That They May Be One

Please turn with me in your Bible to John 17. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 748. We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the Gospel of John. Every Sunday, we simply look at whatever passage comes next. And this Sunday, we find ourselves in John 17:20-26. Jesus is about to be arrested and crucified, and in anticipation of that, throughout chapter 17, he’s been praying for his followers. So let’s pick up with his prayer in John 17:20-26: 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just 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 have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” 

Many of you have probably heard about the ancient Spartan army—an army that has become something of a legend for the fierceness and determination they exhibited in battle. And one battle the Spartans fought, the Battle of Thermopylae, has become especially famous. Basically, the Persian army was coming against the Spartans and outnumbered the Spartans by about 20:1. However, the Spartans used geography to their advantage and forced the Persians to meet them for battle in a narrow pass through the mountains. So there were huge mountains on both sides, and the only way forward was this narrow pass. And the Spartans chose that pass as the location for the battle because they knew that although the Persians had twenty times as many soldiers, only a few of those soldiers would be able to fit into the pass at any given time to battle the Spartans. So basically, the Spartans just lined up blocking the pass, they put their shields out in front of them so close together that they were overlapping each other, and they never allowed that front line of soldiers to break for any reason. And by employing that strategy, they managed to hold off the Persian invaders for three whole days before the Persians eventually found a way around the mountains and began attacking them from behind. But for three days, the Spartan army held off an army that was twenty times their size because they maintained a united front. Their unity was critical for them lasting as long as they did. And it’s not hard to find plenty of other examples that illustrate the importance of unity, whether it’s one army fighting another army in battle or one sports team playing against another sports team in a game, or whatever the case may be. In many different arenas, unity is essential for success.

So it’s not surprising that, here in John 17, we find Jesus praying for the unity of his followers. And that’s really the main idea of this passage. Jesus prays for unity among his followers—a kind of unity, in fact, that’s deeper than any other kind of unity in the world. And there are two key features we can observe about the unity Jesus prays for: the result of the unity and the nature of the unity. Let’s take a closer look at each of those. The result of the unity and the nature of the unity. 

The Result of the Unity

Now it may seem a bit strange to begin by talking about the result of something before we’ve talked about its nature. In most cases, the logical order would be to first talk about what something is before we talk about the results it produces. But I want to begin by first talking about the result of unity so that you can see why this unity is so important. I want us to see that unity in our church isn’t just something that makes our lives more enjoyable. Rather, it’s something that’s absolutely critical for our church’s witness to the watching world. In verse 21, Jesus prays that his followers, “may all be one, just 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 have sent me.” So what’s the result of us being one? “That the world may believe that you have sent me.” And Jesus actually says that not once, but twice. In verse 23, he basically repeats himself. He prays, “that they may be perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” So it’s pretty clear that Jesus views the church’s unity as a vital component of their witness to the world. He speaks of it as the number one way the world will know that the church’s message is true. How will people know that Jesus really was sent from God? It’s by the unity his followers display as they live life together. It kind of reminds me what Jesus said back in John 13. In John 13:34-35, Jesus told his disciples, “34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” So there, Jesus identifies love as the way people will be drawn to his disciples. That’s how they’ll know his disciples really are who they claim to be and that their message is legitimate—by the love they have for one another. So whether you call it unity like Jesus does in John 17 or whether you call it love like Jesus does in John 13, we’re dealing with the same basic idea. The way we treat one another and the way we relate to one another as believers is a huge part of our witness to the world. It might even be the most important thing that helps people see how true the gospel is—the key piece of evidence that proves our church’s gospel message is true. 

Because, when you think about it, you can’t see the gospel. There’s nobody walking around today who was alive 2,000 years ago and could be an eyewitness to Jesus rising from the dead. So how can we know the gospel’s true? Where’s the evidence today that confirms the truth of the gospel? Well, the evidence is in our lives. People can know the gospel’s true because of the results it produces within Christians—results that are nothing short of miraculous. People have to see God changing us in ways that are so radical, there’s no other explanation for it other than God doing a miracle. And one of the ways people need to see God changing us as Christians is not only individually but also corporately, as we live together in love and unity. So when we as believers exhibit that love and unity, the rest of the world can see that the gospel’s true.

You might compare it to gravity. You can’t see gravity, can you? Gravity itself is invisible. So how do you know that gravity exists? Well, I’m sure a scientist could make a case that gravity exists by telling us all about complex formulas and numbers and statistics. But I’m pretty sure just about all of that go would go right over our heads—at least most of us. Most of us probably wouldn’t be able to understand what that scientist is talking about and therefore wouldn’t find his arguments very persuasive. So the best way to prove gravity exists is very simple: [drop pen]. That’s how we know gravity exists. That’s all it takes. We know gravity exists because of the way it affects this pen when drop it. We know it’s real by the effect it has. And it’s the same way with the gospel. How can people know that the gospel’s true? How can people know that Jesus really came from God and died for our sins and rose again from the dead? It’s by the way that gospel message changes us as followers of Jesus. It’s by the effects the gospel produces in our lives—especially the love and unity we display as we relate to one another.

And by the way, that’s why the church’s unity is such a big target for Satan. Remember we learned last week that one of Satan’s favorite ways to attack the church is to stir up conflict? That’s what he loves to do. Satan would love nothing more than to create divisions in Redeeming Grace Church because he knows how much harm that does to our gospel witness. He knows how much that hinders the gospel from moving forward. So don’t let him catch you off guard. Don’t be surprised if you frequently find yourself tempted to gossip about someone in the church or to hold a grudge against someone or to let something relatively small hinder your relationship with someone. Satan is really good at what he does, so just expect those things to come up and regularly pray that God would help you relate to other believers in a loving way. Every single one of us, as Christians, has a role to play in the unity of our church.

The Nature of the Unity

So now that we understand why unity is so important, it’s time for us to ask the question, “What does that unity look like?” So having looked first at the result of the unity, let’s now look at the nature of the unity. Here in John 17, Jesus compares the unity he prays for among believers to the unity of the Trinity—to the way the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relate to one another. Looking at verse 21, Jesus prays that his disciples “may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.” Then in verse 22, he prays, “that they may be one even as we are one,” speaking of himself and the Father. So Jesus and his Father are one. And we know from other passages of Scripture that the Spirit also is included in that oneness. So the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit enjoy perfect oneness in their relationship. And Jesus prays that we, as his followers, would have that same oneness or unity in our relationships with one another. So take a moment and think about the ways we see unity in the Trinity. In what ways do the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit enjoy unity? I believe there are three primary ways. 

A Common Identity

First, the persons of the Trinity have a common identity. And here’s what I mean by that: the persons of the Trinity all share a common identity as God. Not three gods, but one God. That’s what the word “Trinity” actually means. It literally means “tri-unity”—or “three-in-one.” So there are three distinct persons, but those persons, in some mysterious way that’s beyond what we can comprehend, come together to make one God. They share a common identity. And even though our common identity as believers isn’t quite on that level, it’s still similar in a sense. By virtue of the gospel, we share a common identity. 

• For example, we share the identity being forgiven by God. If you’re a Christian, all of your sins that once cried out for God’s judgment have now been wiped away completely. Jesus suffered the penalty for those sins on the cross, so we don’t have to suffer any penalty for them. We’re forgiven. The Bible says that God’s taken our sins and thrown them away as far as the east is from the west. They’re gone. All of our sins are gone. They’ve been nailed to the cross, as Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians. 
• And that’s not all. If you’re a Christian, God’s also made you into a brand new person. The Bible calls it being born again. You’ve experienced a transformation that’s so radical, it’s as if you’ve been born a second time. You’re now a new person. You have new perspectives, new desires, new priorities, new loves, new insight, and really new everything. You’re not perfect yet, since that doesn’t happen until heaven, but you’re definitely different. 
• And as if that weren’t enough, you’ve also been adopted into God’s family. Is there any greater privilege than that? It’s not just that, by becoming a Christian, you’ve ceased to be far from God. You’ve actually been adopted into God’s family. He regards you as his very son or daughter. And you have the family name, the family privileges, and the family inheritance. All of that is yours as a child of God.

So that’s who we are. That’s the identity we share as believers. We are a people who have been forgiven of our sins, changed from the inside out, and adopted into God’s own family.  And that is the most fundamental identity we should view ourselves as having. And here’s what I mean by that. Several weeks ago, I remember hanging out with a guy who seemed to find his most fundamental identity in being a Marine. This wasn’t anyone from our church, just a guy I was hanging out with. And it was apparent that for him, being a Marine was central to the way he viewed his identity. I could tell from various statements he made that it was almost as if, in his eyes, there were two kinds of people in this world: Marines and non-Marines. Have you ever run into someone like that? That’s how much pride he had in being a Marine. I’m pretty sure this guy would find more in common with a fellow Marine who was extremely different from him in terms of things like interests, personality, gender, family background, and ethnicity than he would find in common from someone else who was like him in all of those areas but who wasn’t a Marine. Being a Marine was at the very core of his identity, in his mind. He was a Marine first and everything else second. 

And that should be the way we, as Christians, view our Christian identity. We’re Christians first and everything else second. Sure we might have other ways we conceive of ourselves such as the kind of work we do for a living, our ethnicity, our life experiences, or our interests. We might have a legitimate sense of identity that rises out of those things. But our most fundamental identity should be our Christian identity—the fact that we’re God’s redeemed people. So, if you’re a Christian, you should find more in common with someone who’s very different from you on the outside but who is a Christian than you do with someone who’s the same as you on the outside but who doesn’t share your Christian identity. That’s what it means to view your Christian identity as the most fundamental identity you have. And here’s the reason I’m explaining all of this. It’s that kind of a mindset that brings us together as a church. It’s that kind of mindset that helps us actually experience unity in our day-to-day relationships with one another. We share a common identity as redeemed children of God, and that identity is that most fundamental identity we have.

A Common Love

So that’s one way the persons of the Trinity are unified. They share a common identity. Also, number two, they share a common love. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell in eternal love for one another, and it’s that love that brings them together. And Jesus tells the Father down in verse 26 that he wants that same love enjoyed among the members of the Trinity to be replicated among believers. He says to the Father, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” So Jesus wants us to have among ourselves the same love he enjoys with the Father. That’s what brings the Trinity together, and that’s what should bring us together also. 

I picture love playing a similar role in our church that oil plays in the engine of a car. A car’s engine has a lot of moving parts, and without oil, those parts would rub against each other with such friction that the entire engine would be destroyed pretty much as soon as you turned the engine on. And without love, it would be the same way with us. All of us have desires that are selfish and egos that are fragile. That’s just the truth. As I mentioned before, we may be different, but we’re not perfect. So without love, we’re not going to make it very long. Sooner or later, somebody in this church will rub you the wrong way. If it hasn’t happened yet, that just means that you’re probably overdue. But if you have God’s love, you’ll be able to forgive that person. You won’t gossip about them or harbor resentment against them; you’ll forgive them, because that’s what God’s love leads you to do. And I believe the gospel is the key to us acquiring this love. We acquire this love as we internalize the gospel more and more—as we think about the love God’s shown to us by sending his own Son Jesus to die in our place on the cross. That’s the way we grow in our love for one another. 

A Common Purpose

Then finally, the Trinity not only shares a common identity and a common love, they also share a common purpose. A common purpose brings them together. And that purpose is, quite simply, redeeming the world from sin. Throughout Scripture, we see all three persons of the Trinity pursuing that purpose. Father creates a plan, the Son executes the plan, and the Holy Spirit applies that plan to our lives. All three persons of the Trinity are bound together by a common purpose. And likewise, we as believers also have a purpose that should bind us together. God wants us to tell everyone about what he’s doing. He wants us to tell everyone about Jesus and the salvation Jesus offers through his death and resurrection. And as we all devote our lives to that one mission, that mission will bring us together. 

You may have seen the miniseries that came out a number of years ago called “Band of Brothers.” It was about a group of soldiers during World War II who fought to liberate Europe from Nazi control. And they experienced some things in Europe that nobody should have to experience. They fought side-by-side through some unbelievably intense combat situations. And during those battles, they risked their lives for each other. If a fellow soldier was wounded out in the open and was exposed to the enemy, another solider would risk his life to pull that wounded soldier out of the line of fire. And of course, some soldiers died in these battles. Actually, a lot of them died. But those who survived became unbelievably close friends with each other. A bond was formed between them that those soldiers who were interviewed said no one else could understand. So what brought those men together? They had a shared mission. And in the course of pursuing that mission and through the difficulties they encountered along the way, they became the best of friends. I’m sure at the beginning, a lot of them probably didn’t really like each other. But by the end, they were the best of friends because they had pursued a common mission together.

And our church may not be dealing with incoming mortar rounds or machine gunfire or things like that as we pursue our mission. But God has given us a mission that can be very intense at times and require significant sacrifice, and pursuing that mission side-by-side has a way of bringing us together. In fact, if you don’t remember anything else this morning, remember this: I believe the only way our church will have the unity God wants us to have is if we’re truly engaged in the mission he’s given us. Not just paying the mission lip service, not just doing something here and something there related to the mission, but being truly engaged in our mission of spreading the gospel everywhere. That’s what will bring us together. You see, the way we achieve unity isn’t by focusing on unity. Sure, I understand that conflict resolution skills have their place, but the ultimate way we achieve unity isn’t by focusing on unity itself. It’s by focusing on our mission. If people in our church have time to quarrel with each other about silly little things (and I’m not saying we do, this is just hypothetical), that would be a symptom of a deeper problem. That would be a sign that we might not be very engaged in the mission God has for us. Because if you’re really engaged in the mission, you don’t have time for stuff like that. You just don’t have time to worry about someone not inviting you to a birthday party or making a remark about you that sounded a bit condescending. You’re too occupied with the mission to even notice a lot of those things. So that’s my prayer for our church—that we would be unified by a common identity, a common love, and a common mission. 

And maybe this morning, you want to be a part of that also. Maybe as I was talking earlier in the sermon about the way God forgives us and changes us and adopts us into his family, you thought to yourself, “I want that. I want that. I’m not sure if I have that yet, but I want it.” If you that’s you, I would love to talk with you about that and answer any questions you may have. Feel free to get with me even before you leave this morning so we can have that conversation. Or, probably an even easier way would be for you schedule a conversation with me later this week. You can do that by simply filling out a Connection Card and then writing at the bottom in the prayer requests section the words “schedule a conversation.” Simply write that at the bottom: “schedule a conversation.” Then after the service, you can put that card in the box at the back of the sanctuary. But whatever you do, don’t put off what could be the most important conversation you’ll ever have.