Sabbath: “That They All May Be One”
Image © Pacific Press from GoodSalt.com
Read for This Week’s Study: John 17:1-26, 1 John 5:19, John 13:18-30, John 5:20-23, Mark 9:38-41, Rev. 18:4, 1 John 2:3-6.
Memory Text: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21, NKJV).
The Gospel of John provides us with a window into Jesus’ immediate concerns as His betrayal and death loomed on the horizon. In five crucial chapters (John 13:1-17:26) we receive Jesus’ last words of instruction, culminating with what has sometimes been called His “high-priestly prayer” (John 17:1-26).
“It is a fitting designation, for our Lord in this prayer consecrates himself for the sacrifice in which he is simultaneously both priest and victim. At the same time it is a prayer of consecration on behalf of those for whom the sacrifice is offered-the disciples who were present in the upper room and those who would subsequently come to faith through their testimony.” – F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983), p. 328.
At the core of this prayer is Jesus’ concern for unity among His disciples and those who would later believe in Him. This was a key theme in His prayer: “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them” (John 17:9-10, NKJV).
No meaningful discussion of church unity, of our oneness in Christ, can be complete without careful attention given to this prayer. What did Jesus pray for, whom did He pray for, and what does His prayer mean for us today?
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 20.
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That Jesus prayed for unity in Jn 17 is beyond contention. But what kind of unity was Jesus praying for - unity of what?
My wife, Carmel, and I disagree on a number of things. She likes bright red cars, while I prefer non-descript grey. She does not like bananas but I love them. Guess what? We own a red car and I drive it. And Carmel buys bananas for me and even eats some of them occasionally. Carmel prefers a more emotional spiritual experience, while I prefer a reasoned carefully thought through experience. Do we let these differences separate us? We are still married after 49 and 1/2 years.
The point is that we do not let the differences annoy us because there is much more at stake than agreement about likes and dislikes.
In regards to the unity of the church, I sometimes wonder if we magnify our differences until they become issues rather than accepting that when we live in Christ we respect and appreciate one another without letting the differences become issues.
In that respect, we should understand that the "working of the Holy Spirit" in our lives may mean that we continue to dialog with those in the Church who hold different view rather than expecting a dramatic, miraculous end to the issue.
By the way, our "other car" is an old Toyota Troopy, off-white in colour, and covered in red dust from our desert travels. There is no way we could take our little Red Mazda into the desert! Carmel and I have been living in the Troopy for the last 5 weeks. Living in a confined space like the back of our troopy is a real test of our unity. Respect for our differences in absolutely necessary.
. “Why are we not one? Sin is the great dividing element. The perfectly holy would be perfectly united. The more saintly men are, the more they love their Lord and one another; and thus they come into closer union with each other.” (Spurgeon)
When Christ came into the world all godliness was poured out in him unto us.
Christ looked beyond the failures of the disciples saw the vision to become one with him.
Are you willing to look beyond the failures and disappointments?
It is true that sin divides us but we need to identify the sin that divides us. Once again, I think selfishness is the main factor. We like to think we are right; that we have the truth and that the other side has clearly got it wrong and are suffering from a lack of the Holy Spirit, or worse, have been influenced by the Jesuits! I have heard conversations where such comments have been made and to be honest they are quite funny, except for the fact that they are evidence of intolerance and an unwillingness to put into action the great principle of loving one another as Christ loved us. There is no moral ground for being right and intolerant.
The scripture for this week includes John 17:1." Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son may also glorify You". I would like to focus on that verse and pose a question. What does it mean to glorify?.... Jesus was concerned over the task at hand, redemption of His created beings. He mentioned in several places that His time had not come. John 7:6,8,30. To glorify someone means to up lift or honor, him or her. Just a few thoughts that interested me about Glorifying God the Father. Some say "Glory be to God" with perhaps a different understanding.
My desire is to be in oneness with my fellow brothers and sisters,but why does it seem so difficult?Jesus knowing it would be like this,He knows our mind set He knows that a mix multitude would be persuaded differently,so He prayed for us to be in oneness,if we spend time thinking through this prayer by the Holy Spirit help we will realize our short comings and he will help us surrender
One of the struggle for many Christians is, how to disagree without being disagreeable, and to love those with different perspectives.
My wife and I work with youth and new believers and the unchurched. They are hurt sometimes by the attitude of "seasoned Christians" who insist that their way of thinking is The "absolute" right way and the only way to worship, to live and to be ready for the coming of Jesus. What's even more troublesome is that Love, compassion and patience are not practiced towards the new believers. We are constantly bombarded with questions dealing with traditions, habits, customs and symbols practiced by the church that are non-salvific in nature. How do we then tell them about unity if there is more talk about Unity than living a transparent, loving, inclusive Spirit-driven life?
Good thoughts on the matter.
The Unity that Christ wants us to have is not about our style, customs or traditions. It is about the unity of Love, peace, joy and respect for people. The core of the gospel message is that we should genuinely love people, be kind and courteous to them regardless of their race, color or ethnic background.The real danger to unity comes from our love of power and the love of material things plus the urge that we have for the accumulation of more.
Jesus wants us to be oneness in every thing we do.This so important because nothing can separate us from the love of the father if we are one and our great enemy Satan will not get the chance to battle with us.Loneliness is not to be encouraged among our christian community, this is so with respect to what happened to our parents in the garden of Eden.Hard Eve not to leave her husband and went alone, Satan would not had power or gotten the chance to deceive her.In oneness we support ourselves, share our experiences and pray to one another as did Jesus to His disciples.