That They May Be One

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. JN. 17:11 On this particular occasion Jesus is not praying, as many have imagined, that all peoples on earth may live as one single family.

Jesus has just said, “I pray for them [my followers] not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me do I pray.” Just as a father may love the members of his family and pray for them without any the less loving his native land and praying for it, so Jesus at this time prays for those who are his followers. Secondly, Jesus is not praying that all his followers may be one numerically, in one institution or in one church, as they have argued.

The oneness for which he prays has a much deeper significance than either of these interpretations suggests. Jesus’ meaning is in the following four words “as we are one.” Jesus prays that all men whose lives are committed to his way of life, may be one, as he and God, the Father, are one. The essence of this oneness is love.

This is the life of supreme harmony amid enriching differences, as the glorious music of a Bach chorale unites many musicians with different instruments into one mean- ingful theme. The Christian’s oneness with God and with fellow Christians is a unity of life which even physical death cannot destroy.