John 17: Jesus Desires Unity

There is much talk of unity in our world today. Yet the concept is not new. Jesus spoke of unity long ago, defining it clearly for those who follow him even now. In John 17, he taught:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Notice the goal of unity is that the world would know God had sent Jesus to the world. This has little to do with politics, denominations, finances, or world religions. It is about one message, the message that Jesus is from God and is the Messiah.

When we make unity about other issues, we may provide help toward a cause or issue, but this is not the unity spoken of by Jesus. To Jesus, unity was that we would live in loving community based around the core belief of Jesus as God’s Son.

Jesus desires unity.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author or co-author of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of the New Testament in 2011 at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.