Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are…. That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.
—John 17:11, 21-23
What a treasure we have in this high priestly prayer in John 17! There the heart of Jesus is laid open to our view, and we see what His love desires for us. In this prayer, the mutual union of believers is more important than anything else. In His prayer for all who will in the future believe, this is the chief petition.
The Lord tells us plainly why He desires this unity so strongly. It is the only convincing proof to the world that the Father had sent Him. With all its blindness, the world knows that selfishness is the curse of sin. It is little help that God’s children say that they are born again, that they are happy, or that they can prove that what the Scriptures teach is the truth. When the world sees a church from which selfishness is banished, then it will acknowledge the divine mission of Christ—a community of people who truly and heartily love one another.
How many believers do not even desire to be one even as the Father and the Son are one! They are so accustomed to a life of selfishness that they do not even long for such perfect love. They put off that union until heaven. And yet, the Lord was thinking of life on earth when He twice said, “That the world may know.”
Beloved Christians, the oneness of Christ with the Father is our model: even as They are one, so must we be one. Let us love one another, serve one another, bear with one another, and live for one another. Our love is too small, but we will earnestly pray that Christ gives us His love wherewith to love. With God’s love “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost” (Romans 5:5), we will be so united as one that the world might know that it is indeed the truth that the Father sent Christ into the world, and that Christ has given to us the very life and love of heaven.