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More John commentaries
John 14:1-12
Jesus Encourages the Troubled Disciples
John 14:13-14
The Measure, Means, and Might of Prayer
John 14:15-21
The Holy Spirit’s Dwelling in Believers
John 14:22-31
The Disciple’s Question
John 15:1-10
The Pruning Process
John 15:11-17
The Commandment to Love One Another
John 15:18-27
Why the World Hates Christians
John 16:1-15
The Work of the Holy Spirit
John 16:16-24
The Transformation of Pain to Joy
John 16:25-33
Understanding God’s Word and Applying It
John 17:1-8
Jesus’ Prayer For His Glorification
John 17:9-19
Jesus’ Prayer for His Disciples
John 17:20-26
Jesus’ Prayer for Unity of Believers
John 18:1-14
Jesus’ Betrayal by Judas
John 18:15-27
Trial Before Annas
John 18:28-37
Pilate Questions Jesus
John 18:38-40
Pilate’s Compromise
John 19:7-16
Pilate Gives In Under Pressure
John 19:17-27
Jesus is Crucified
John 19:28-37
Fulfilment of Prophecy
John 19:38-42
The Burial of Jesus
John 20:1-9
The Resurrection of Jesus
John 20:10-18
Mary Magdalene Returns to the Tomb
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Jesus’ Prayer for Unity of Believers
John 17:20–26
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
One day a professor demonstrated to his class the power of an electromagnet. He placed 2 lbs. of nails on a table with the wires of an electromagnet under the table. When he flipped the switch, the nails came together and he was able to form the nails into various shapes as long … More
The Lord has already prayed about security and sanctity; now the burden of His prayer is unity. In this passage He prays for the whole church down through the centuries, that they all may be unified (vv. 20-26). He is concerned that His people experience a spiritual unity that is like the oneness of the Father and the Son. Jesus was not praying for the unity of a single, worldwide, ecumenical church that disregards doctrinal heresy. Instead:
One of the things that impresses the unbelieving world is how Christians love each other and live together in harmony. The lost world does not see God, but they see Christians and what they see has a lot to do with what they will believe about God. If they see hatred and division, it will cause them to reject the message of the Gospel. The spirit of selfishness, hatred and disunity among born-again Christians and Bible believing churches today must break the Savior’s heart.
However, we must never sacrifice truth for the sake of unity. Truth and love must go together (Ephesians 4:15). Truth without love is brutality, but love without truth is hypocrisy. The mind grows by taking in truth, but the heart grows by giving out love. Jesus makes it clear that truth and love must go together (Eph. 4:15).
Application
How united are the believers I know? Do they exhibit real love for one another or is it just an empty saying? How does this work in my family? How does it work in my life? What can I do this week to show forth genuine love to my neighbor.
John 17:20-26 (English Standard Version)
""I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 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. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 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. 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. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 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."
View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »
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