WHAT JESUS PRAYED FOR

Lectionary Text: John 17:20-21 (NRSV) -  "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that 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.”

To read Christ’s prayer in Chapter 17
of John has always made me feel that I
am eavesdropping upon a sacred scene,
like some unfit intruder or a spy,
who overhears our Lord himself in prayer.
As Jesus poured out what was on his heart,
what was the impact on those who were there?
They heard him say to God right at the start,
                 “The hour has come, Father; now glorify
                 your Son so that you may be glorified.
                 By finishing the work you gave me, I thereby
                 did glorify you here on Earth.”
Not pride
but purpose did these words of Christ reveal
to those who were there with him as he prayed.
They heard this intercessory appeal
on their behalf by Jesus being made:
                 “I’m praying now for those whom you gave me,
                 for they are yours, all mine are yours, and they
                 are mine, and glorified in them I’ll be.
                 Protect them, Father, in your name, I pray,
                 that they may be one, even as we are,
                 and that my joy may be in them fulfilled.
                 I also pray for all those near and far
                 who will believe in me, as you have willed.”
This is the most amazing thing of all:
our Lord was praying here for you and me!
Of all the passages one can recall,
not one includes us more explicitly.
And what did Jesus ask concerning us?
                 “That they may all be one, as we are one,
                 you in me, and I in you, and they in us.”
Just think: one with the Father and the Son!  
Fantastic, what our Lord has prayed for here.
He draws us right into the Trinity!
The purpose of his prayer is very clear:
                 “So that the world believes you have sent me.”
His prayer has an evangelistic thrust.
Our oneness is a witness to the world.
And Christians have betrayed this sacred trust,
when barbs of hate and schism they have hurled.
When all of Jesus’ mandates we discuss,
there’s no more awesome warrant anywhere
than having Jesus pray to God for us.
May God help us to answer the Lord’s prayer!