John 17:20-21 20I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21so that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
The disciples would be empowered to carry out their mission because of Jesus’ prayer. The Father would send the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost giving the disciples the courage to share the good news of Jesus. Jesus next prays for those who would hear and believe in the disciples’ message. The word they preached was the one Jesus received from the Father and passed on to them. They would go on to preach this same word to others, spreading the seed widely on different soils, but also receiving different responses (Mark 4). Some who heard the word would believe and become disciples.
The focus of the prayer in verse 21 is the same unity Jesus had just prayed for the original disciples would mark those who came after him. The church of today has many divisions. Often, many of those divisions are over how to interpret the words passed down from the first disciples. When human interpretations become more significant than hearing and heeding the Holy Spirit, the result is division. Human thinking becomes evident when anything else besides Jesus becomes the focus of attention, including politics, psychology, and social issues.
The source and model for this unity is the reciprocal relationship between Father and Son. The Father was in the Son, working and speaking through the Son to the lost world, which he loves (14:10). To look at the Son was to see the Father. Likewise, the Son was in the Father as the creative Word (1:2-3). This profound relationship of unity and love cannot be fully explained or even imagined. Even within this unity, there is a distinction in that the Son came to earth, lived, died, rose, and will come again. Since the Son always was, the relationship within the one God is inseparable and undefinable. It can only be expressed in the Incarnation as the Son became one with humanity and lived and died as a human.
This unfathomable unity becomes the model for the unity of believers who join in this profound relationship shared between Father and Son. Our unity with God is not the same as the eternal Son, but we can model his time on earth. His life becomes the model for our life. To be in the Father and Son means to join with the Son in how he lived in perfect love and obedience. We cannot do this on our own, and what we can experience now is only in part (1 John 3:2). We are not left to struggle in seeking this relationship of love but have been given the Holy Spirit, who will remind us of Jesus’ words and grow within us a love for one another.
The last clause of verse 21 gives the purpose of the unity believers ought to share in answer to Jesus’ prayer. There are three interlocking purpose clauses in these verses: believing in Jesus’ words leads to unity, which then leads to strong witness. Our relationship with God expressed in Christian fellowship will be a witness of Jesus’ identity as the Messiah and Son of God. If there is disunity, fighting, bitterness, unforgiveness, or anything else contrary to love, we are not being true to Jesus’ character. The unity of believers should be so contrary to divisiveness in the world that it should attract people. They should be able to look at Christians and see how they love one another. The label of Jesus’ followers ought to be love (13:35). The strongest witness the church can have is unity in love.
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