John 17:22-23
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Scripture Insights
Nothing Jesus did was casual. He was never rushed, but he was full of purpose.
In the Gospel of Luke, we see Jesus demonstrating his determined will to fulfill
the purpose for which his Father had sent him: the redemption of humanity. “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). That’s purpose.
In today’s scripture we catch a glimpse of our part in Jesus’s purpose. Jesus is now in Jerusalem and is about to go to the cross to make the way for salvation to be accomplished. Before his arrest, Jesus spends time praying for you and me, that we would be one just as he and the Father are one. This was not a meaningless prayer for us to experience fuzzy sentimental emotions. In this
deep and profound prayer, our Savior is praying that we will join him in fulfill
ing the purpose for which he was about to sacrifice his life on the cross—that
the church of 2025, you and me, may be one as he and the Father are one, for
the sake of unity. Then Jesus’s purpose will be fulfilled in context of the 2025
communities we live in.
In a diverse USA/Canada context where, these days, our differences tend to divide us, even in the church, Jesus’s prayer continues to resound loudly. Only supernatural power can accomplish what Jesus prayed for. That’s why his promise
of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was so crucial to the success of his plan
to use you and me. Praise God that we now live in the time when that power is available to us. Come, Holy Spirit, make us one as the Father and Son are one!
Today’s Prayer
Father, as we journey from Easter to Pentecost and beyond, pour out your Holy
Spirit on the Church of the Nazarene in the USA and Canada. Empower each of us
to reach out with the love of Jesus in our hearts, and make us one so that the world will know Jesus in all his grace and mercy.
—Steve Ottley
CotN District Superintendent, Canada Central
