Three of Harrisburg’s finest men came together for ONE reason. Well, maybe two since there was bacon…
John 17… This is Jesus’ prayer for us. Knowing what He is about to face, He makes a last request of the Father for help and UNITY. Read this OYO.
Vs 1. “Glorify thy Son…” What is our idea of “Glory?” An award, attention? Usually something pleasurable. In this case, Jesus knows what is ahead. Perhaps He also knows that thousands of years later, millions of people around the globe will still celebrate this event.
Vs 2-3. (Specifically 3) – “Know” We “know of” a lot of people. We “KNOW” a handfull. The other scripture that comes to mind is “depart from Me, I never KNEW you.” This is an intimate knowledge of Christ, not just an acknowledgement of His existance.
Vs 4 – Christ work on this earth is finished. Time to go… No different with us. When our work is finished, it’s time to go. The opposite is true; as long as you are drawing breath, you have a job to do.
Read down to Vs 11, the meat… Jesus is asking God Almighty to keep and take care of us. To keep you… yes, YOU! Also, He prays for us to be ONE. One mind, one body, one spirit. Jesus asks for this again in vs 21(twice), 22, and 23.
A way to understand the parts that are especially important to your Christian walk is to pay particular attention to the things that are repeated. Five times Jesus asks for God to give unity and oneness to His followers, but not just the 11 disciples. Look at vs 20.
It is easy to find differences. When we really sit and think about it, it is just as easy to find common ground. But here we sit, probably a few months after Christ ascended back to Heaven, quickly dividing into different sects and denominations, loosing the promise of vs 13 because we have made things more complicated than they were ever meant to be.
Apart from Jesus dying for us and rising again, He spent three years teaching and explaining the old law. He showed the religous crowd how they have the right idea but are totally wrong in execution, caught up in the unimportant details, forgetting the larger parts of the law (mercy, grace, forgiveness). He even boiled everything down into two sentences. Love the Lord with all of your heart, mind, and soul. The second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself. Easy enough, right? KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID…
Imagine if everyone who claimed Christianity worked as ONE. There would be no obstacle that could prevail.
Also consider how unity would appear to the rest of the world. Vs 23. Fighting and discord between churches does not accomplish this… Next time you have an event at church, try to invite another congregation to join.
Also in vs 23, we are “made perfect” when we are one. Isn’t that what we should be striving for?
Moleskin:
- Thank you again, gents, for a great conversation. I truly enjoyed it.
- As leaders in our families, churches, communities, it is up to us to foster an environment of unity. A house divided, as they say…
- We have a big table, if you haven’t made it to #Endurance, come on out. You won’t be disappointed.
@Banjo Boy – A good message this AM, thanks for leading us. It’s a good reminder that we are ONE as Christians, regardless of our denominations. How often we may forget this.
Smaller PAX this AM, did you forget bacon was included with The Word?