Not surprisingly, modern people tend to view John 17 through modern eyes. Looking around, they see good people separated into hundreds of denominations. So, they conclude one of two things. Either Jesus’ prayer for In the latter case, “maintaining the unity” means encourage groups to get along better. Develop partnerships. Convene ecumenical councils. Exchange preachers. Share in joint projects.
Cooperation for society’s benefit is commendable. However, our problems and perspectives should not distort the meaning of John 17. Look through Jesus’ pure eyes. Listen to His clear voice. John 17 is the one Shepherd praying for His one flock, that is, the sheep that hear His voice. If we are truly His sheep, we pay attention to His definition of unity.
[I pray] 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 17:21-23).
“They may become perfectly one.”
This is the most intimate unity possible. Jesus makes it a matter of prayer because only God can make people “perfectly one” (John 17:23). This is complete unity, divine unity, that is entirely different from man-made alliances.
Notice how often Jesus uses “in” to describe this unity.
- The Father is in the Son (John 17:21, 23).
- The Son is in the Father (John 17:21).
- The believers are “in Us,” that is, they are in the Father and the Son
(John 17:21).
- Jesus is in His disciples—“I in them” (John 17:23).
That dynamic—Deity “in” disciples and disciples “in” Them—assures divinely-empowered unity: “I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one” (John 17:23). The disciples’ unity is as genuine as the unity of the Godhead: “That they may be one even as We are one” (John 17:22).