THAT WE MAY ALL BE ONE
John 17:20-26
Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year C
Analysis by Ella Moehlman
20“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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. 22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
“There is unity and love in ‘them,’ in ‘us,’ in all the Jesus-trusters.”
DIAGNOSIS: Unity? What Unity?
Step One: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – Denominations, divisions and schism
Jesus prays “that they may all be one” (v. 21). Yet I look around and I can only see disunity. I can hardly see the “one holy, catholic and apostolic church.” The church is riddled with divisions and factions. The conversation comes up every few months in my local ministerial group of colleagues – ought we have some sort of definition of who belongs? Churches that adhere to the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds? The Reformation Solas? No, that would exclude the Catholics. But we’ve got to keep those pesky Jehovah’s Witnesses at bay! And depending on who the current pastors are, the Catholic congregation or the LCMS congregation won’t take part in our meetings.
Step Two: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – One and only, not one in unity
But the disunity is also within us, betrayed in our hard-hearted and unloving self-righteousness. Jesus prays, “the glory you have given me, I have given them,” and we all want exclusive rights to that glory. Our way is better than the way of that church down the street. We’ve got the right way, and we will let the world really know who Jesus is. You folks from that other church don’t worship Jesus how we worship him, you don’t follow him how we follow him, you don’t proclaim him the way we proclaim him. You’re not really in unity with the Father, and how will the rest of the world know the right way (our way) if we’re not showing them how you’re doing it all wrong! Yes, we want to be one, but one and only, not one in unity.
Step Three: Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem) – This unity only lasts till death do us part
Christ’s glory is the cross. After he has spoken these words, he is arrested, tried, and hung on a cross. What good are the prayers of a man who is killed by the very people he is praying for? When it comes down to it, I don’t want unity with that. If that is how the Father shows his love for the Son and for the world, through a bloody, gruesome death, then I want no part of it. I can’t do unity in the face of death. And death is what I am faced with when I do not know the righteous One who was there before the foundation of the world. But without Christ, we are captive to disunity and cannot free ourselves.
PROGNOSIS: Christ’s Unity
Step Four: Initial Prognosis (Ultimate Solution) – Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father
Jesus prays, “I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with
which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (v. 26). This is a promise. The unity we experience with God is not up to us, but up to Christ Jesus, and who we are in him. We receive this unity through Christ and his cross, where our enmity with God and with one another is cancelled, and we get to live in the grace of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Step Five: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution) – We love together as the Father loved the Son
We have “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all” through Jesus the Christ (Ephesians 4:5-6). He is the one who holds the church as one with him as the head of the body. And in the gift of baptism, we are united with him. “If we are united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5). With Christ as our one Lord, even death is not a lonely ending but a glorious new beginning. Through this trust, we are opened to the promise of Christ’s abiding love of God with us and with all.
Step Six: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – We are one
Because Jesus is making God known to us, and making us known to one another and to God, we are able to see one another with love. Once you get to know someone in Christ’s love, it’s easier to love them. We see the image of God in our neighbors, so instead of giving them a bad name (yes, even those down the street in that other church), we paint all they do in the best light. There is unity and love in “them,” in “us,” in all the Jesus-trusters.”
I see this in the Stations of the Cross prayer walk that I organized with my Catholic colleague this last Holy Week. We were encouraging the youth of our respective congregations to participate. As the father and I collaborated on preparations, we shared with each other that we were hopeful 40-50 people would come together to participate. We were overwhelmed by a crowd too large to accurately count. Perhaps 180 people showed up, united by the God’s love revealed to us in Christ on the cross, so that we may be one. This is the unity for which Jesus was praying – for us and for all.
