SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER [c] May 26, 2022
JOHN 17:20-26
20 [Jesus said,] “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 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. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 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. 24 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. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 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.”
IN THE NAME OF JESUS.
Jesus is in conversation with his Father. He is speaking to his Father about us, praying for us. And he prays that we may be one with one another, even as he is in oneness with his Father.
The church has just observed Ascension Day. That was Thursday. We heard the readings of our Lord ascending to Heaven and we heard of his reign at the right hand of the Father.
Before that, it was Easter. We were given the words of his resurrection from the dead. He defeated death. He gives us that victory in Baptism. Before Easter we had Holy Week. We heard his Word instituting Holy Communion; we heard of his crucifixion, where he spilled the blood that atones for the sins of the world and which he now brings to us in his Supper.
Having heard of these great gifts of salvation—of Jesus instituting his Supper, of his death for us on the cross, of his victory over death on our behalf, of his ascension to Heaven, now, in this Seventh Sunday of Easter, we hear our Lord praying … for us:
[Father,] “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.”
[John 17:23]
Just before this, Jesus had prayed to his Father,
“Sanctify them [make them holy], in your truth … I have given them your word, [Father,] and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
Jesus prays not only for his disciples of that time, for the church gathered around him then, but also for us. He prays for all the generations to follow, for all he will gather to his Name. He prays for us and our families. For he says,
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.”
That’s us. Jesus gave his Word to his Apostles, they brought it to the world, and it is that Word by which Jesus is revealing himself to us and making us his own.
We belong to him. So Jesus prays for us, that we may be one with one another even as he is in oneness with his Father.
For Jesus, unity, or oneness, is a big word. He created the man and the woman, Adam and Eve, and he bound them together in a life-giving unity. From Matthew 19:6:
“… the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Jesus uses this same word of oneness, or unity, for the Church, when he declares himself to be the Groom, the Church to be his Bride, in oneness with each other.
And in his prayer, Jesus prays,
[Father,] “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.”
Sometimes we are tempted to soften or lessen what Jesus gives us with this word oneness.
We may hear that you need to have a relationship with Jesus. But Scripture nowhere says that. Relationship speaks of two things, or two people, relative to each other. There is a distance, not a oneness. So now you have to figure out if you have a close relationship or a distant relationship. And how will you make yourself to have a closer relationship? That will be the work of the Law to tell you how to accomplish that.
Jesus does not speak of having a relationship with the church. He does not speak of a husband being in a relationship with his wife.
Jesus’ word is much more kind, more full. A husband is in oneness with his wife. The Lord is in oneness with his Bride, the church. It’s not our work, it’s pure gift.
Do we see ourselves not in oneness? There we find our sin; we find the work of the devil.
In Scripture, oneness does not mean conformity; it does not speak of an outward likeness, so that everyone is acting the same way. Conformity can be had by coercion, after all, by the Law.
Oneness gives, rather, a binding together.
Jesus never required Peter to act like Paul and Paul to act like Peter. That may have presented an outward conformity, but that’s no unity.
Peter and Paul were in unity because they were both sanctified by the blood of Christ, were both united in his Gospel, and they both proclaimed this same Gospel to sinners, whether Peter down in Jerusalem or Paul up in Athens.
A husband and wife are in unity not because they are outwardly the same or able to do the same functions. The husband remains husband, giving the gifts of husband to his wife, the wife remains wife, giving the gifts only the wife can give, and the man and woman are bound in oneness with each other.
Jesus prays for unity, for oneness, for his Church. We each bring our own particular gifts, we each rejoice in the gifts peculiar to one another, and we all build up each other in encouragement.
And we pray for one another. Our prayer is joined in oneness to the intercession of our Lord Jesus. We pray for the one suffering sickness, that healing may be brought, and that he or she would know the comfort of Christ Jesus.
We pray for the one looking for work, for the husband and wife in conflict, for the one tempted by arrogance, the one placing himself above others, the one beat down, the one lonely, the one afraid—we pray that each would hear the word forgiving sin and covering shame.
We pray for those working in the Church to teach the children, those taking care of the building, those keeping the books, those serving the youth, those bringing the gift of music, we pray, giving thanks for all and that they would know joy in their service to their fellow saints.
We pray for those who rejoice—those contemplating graduation, those looking forward to marriage, those finding fulfillment in their vocations, those able to be content with what they are given, we pray in thankfulness for all.
And we pray for oneness. For the devil sows division into the church, with our own sin and arrogance we bring brokenness into our families, and in our sinful flesh, we find the Law will always be about the business of having us accuse one another.
So we pray for oneness in the church, for oneness in our families. We pray for the gift of the Word of Jesus, that the forgiveness of sins would break down division and join together in oneness, that the Gospel would prevail and build up the Church in oneness in Christ Jesus, our Groom.
As we pray, we are given to know that Jesus prays with us. He intercedes to his Father that we would be sanctified by his Word, would be made holy by his blood, and would be made one with him and with each other. John 17:21:
[Father,] “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.”
Jesus speaks to his Father about us. His Father hears his prayer. By this prayer, his Father is our Father. He gives us his Word, keeps us in his Name, and sanctifies us, forgiving us of all sin, making us one with him and with one another.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS.