John 17 Bible Study: The Prayer for Oneness

Let's turn to a section of the Word and just enjoy reading the verses one after another. Sound good? Please turn to John 17. And let's go verse-by-verse through the whole chapter. Let's do a John 17 Bible study.

In John 3:17, we learn that "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." God sent his son to save us. And we're all saved by confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and we believe in our hearts that God raised his son from the dead (Romans 10:9-10). When you do Romans 10:9-10, you’re born again, receive holy spirit, and you’re on your way to living a powerful abundant life. 

We’re in John 17. And this is before Jesus’s arrest. He is praying out loud. And we get to listen. Before this moment, Jesus told his disciples that he's going away, but the Comforter (the gift of holy spirit) will be coming. 

And in John 17, Jesus is praying in 3 movements. First, he prays about himself. Second, he prays for his friends. Third, he prays for all future believers. Finally, he prays that we'd all be one, with him, and we'd know God's love.

John 17. 

Verse 1: "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:" Right out of the gate - Jesus looks up and says "Father." He's praying to someone other than himself. 

"The hour has come." Everything has been leading to this.

Verse 2: "As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him."

God has given Jesus power. That's important. If Jesus were God himself, he wouldn't need to be given anything - he'd already have it. 

And this "eternal life" flows from Father, through the Son, to us.

Verse 3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." 

This is one of the clearest verses in the Bible. Jesus defines eternal life as knowing two things: 1: “Thee, the only true God” (who he calls “Father”). And 2: knowing “Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Those two things. Knowing God and Jesus Christ. 

Jesus is praying to the only true God, whom he calls “Father.” And he identifies himself as the one who was sent. There’s the sender and the sent. 

Verse 4: “I have glorified thee on earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” God gave him work to do. John 4:34, we have Jesus saying that he “is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” 

Verse 5: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee (not "as thee") before the world was."

Verse 6: "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word."

Verse 7: "Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee."

Verse 8: "For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me."

God gave Jesus the words, Jesus then spoke the words, and the people received them, and believed, and kept them.

Verse 9: "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." Jesus is not praying for the whole word, but for those who followed and believed, and they belong to God. 

Verse 10: "And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them."

There is a sharing relationship here with God. What belongs to Jesus belongs to God and vice versa. They are unified in purpose. Jesus is glorified in the disciples, through their believing, their actions, their words, and their lives.

Verse 11: "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are."

Jesus is about to leave. The believers will remain in the world. So he asks God to keep them (to protect them). For what purpose? "That." So "that they may be one, [just] as we are" one. What kind of "one" are Jesus and God here? Are they one being? No. They are not one being, one person. They are one in purpose, in spirit, in love. Jesus is praying that the disciples would be one, that they would have the same oneness, the same unity with each other, just as God and his son do. Jesus isn’t praying that all disciples (and all followers and all believers) would merge into one big human being. That’s impossible. But that they would be unified, like members of one body. My daughter and I "are one." A husband and wife are "one flesh." 

Verse 12: "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition (Judas); that the scripture might be fulfilled." (That's referring to Psalm 41:9 and Psalm 109:8).

Verse 13: "And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves."

Verse 14: "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

Verse 15: "I pray NOT that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

Verse 16: "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

Verse 17: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." 

Believing and acting on the Word set us believers apart, sanctified. It’s almost like we’re not of this world. We’re different. The word makes us holy and separates us from the world. Through the truth. And what's the truth? “Thy word is truth.” God's word is truth. 

Verse 18: "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." 

God sent Jesus. Jesus sent disciples. We too have been called. 

Verse 19: "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." 

Jesus set himself apart with the Word. 

Verses 20-26: Jesus Prays for All Believers

Verse 20: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." Now, his prayer expands to everyone who would ever believe. That includes you and me. 2,000 years later, we're in this prayer. We are connected to this moment through a long thread of believers. That’s really cool.

Verse 21: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." 

Here's that "oneness" again. And it's clearly explained in this verse. Jesus is praying to the only true God who he calls Father, O Father, Holy Father, and here again "Father." And here, oneness is explained. From verse 20, it says “them also which shall believe" … verse 21, “that they all may be one." So, being one is: all that shall believe may be one.” All that believe? That’s a lot of believers. 

Does it mean that billions of people are squished into one big human being? No. 

What does “may be one” mean?  

The verse 21 says how this "oneness" is. 

It’s God (who Jesus calls Father) God is in Jesus: "Father art in me." 

And Jesus is in God: "And I in thee." 

Father in me, I in thee. One. We’re one. 

That's God in Christ right there. 

Well, what is the purpose of that? Well, it’s in the verse. Verse 21. So "that they also may be one in us." We believers are to be one in them. This is relational unity. Having a shared purpose. And a shared love. So that the "world may believe that [God] has sent me." Our "oneness"? That's God in Christ in you. When I see a believer walk in my open door during fellowship, I don’t see “Bob”, I see Jesus Christ. I see God. That’s what the verse says. "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”

Verse 22: "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:" That glory (Greek doxa) is referring to a most exalted state or condition of unconditional love, one for another. So that we may be one, even as God and Christ are one. Wow. 

Verse 23: "I in them [Christ in you], and thou in me [God in Christ], that [purpose?] they may be made PERFECT in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast LOVED them, as thou hast LOVED me."

It's all about love. Love. Agape love. Unconditional love. God in Christ. Christ in us. And the result is perfected in one. 

And look at the end of verse 23: "thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." 

This "loved them" from verse 23 = ἠγάπησας (ēgapēsas) - agapao, VERB

And "loved me" in verse 23 = ἠγάπησας (ēgapēsas) - agapao, VERB

It’s the same word!

God loves us with the same love he has for his Son. Let that sink in. That's God's heart for his children. God's agape love for his son is the same agape love he has for us believers. That's incredible. Same love. One love. Wow!

And the word "Perfect" here in verse 23 is the Greek word teleioo - meaning completed, full maturity, and accomplished. Our unity reaches its accomplished goal when we're fully walking in love together as one. 

Verse 24: "Father [the only one true God], I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou LOVEDST me before the foundation of the world." 

"lovedst" = ἠγάπησάς (ēgapēsas) - agapao, VERB. 

God's love for his son (and us) existed before creation. That's that eternal love. Before I ever met my wife, I knew that I would fall in love with a woman who would be my wife. You could say that I had love for Alicia even before we met. 

Verse 25: "O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me." It's knowledge that sets us believers apart. 

Verse 26: "And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the LOVE wherewith thou hast LOVED me may be in them, and I in them."

That’s the love of God in you, and Christ in you. No ever taught me this! Right here, Jesus talking about God in Christ in you! Wow. 

And this word "love" in verse 26 = ἀγάπη (agapē) - agape, NOUN

And the word "loved" in verse 26 = ἠγάπησάς (ēgapēsas) - agapao, verb

This is the only place in John 17 where the NOUN form "AGAPE" appears. And it's in the final verse - the conclusion of the whole prayer. Ain’t that something? 

Jesus declared, explained, taught, and showed everyone God's nature. So that, and here's the goal again, so "that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them."

God's unconditional agape love is in you. That's God in Christ in you. And it's all about being unified in love. That's the glory. That's the goal. God's unconditional love operating in us through our renewed minds, manifesting in how we live powerful abundant lives. Talk about power for abundant living! 

Summary

I hope you enjoyed reading the Word. In John 17, Jesus is praying, and we get to listen. He prayed to God. And we can too. We have the same access to God. When we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised his son from the dead, then we receive the gift of holy spirit. And that's God in Christ in us, the hope of glory (2 Corinthians 5:19 and Colossians 1:27). Oneness is unity. God and his son were one in purpose. We believers are one in the same way. With unconditional love of God. That's power for abundant living. 

You are the best.

Amen?

Further study: Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 1 Corinthians 12:20, Ephesians 4:4-6, Colossians 3:15, Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5-6, Mark 10:8, Ephesians 5:23-25, Ephesians 5:30-32, 2 Corinthians 11:2, 1 Corinthians 6:17, and Galatians 3:28.

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