²⁰ "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word,
²¹ that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
²² The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
²³ I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.
²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world.
²⁵ O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me.
²⁶ I made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them."

• Today's passage is from Jesus' prayer at the Last Supper(17:1-26) and the conclusion of the Last Discourse - the prayer immediately before his passion and death.
• Recurring themes:
  • "Father" is found six times (vv. 1,5,11,21,24,25) - Perfectly joined to the Father in oneness, Jesus remains at all times the obedient and loving Son.
  • "sent me", in vv. 3,8,21,25 - Belief that Jesus is sent by the Father is acceptance of the truth that the Son is one with the Father.
  • "the world" is mentioned seventeen times - The world of disbelief and hatred and unlove, the contrast to what Christian living should be.
  • "love", in vv. 23,24,26 - The church should be a community of love, the living sign of the mutual love of Father and Son.
  • "glory", in vv. 1,4,5,10,22,24 - The culmination of the unity would be sharing the glory that Jesus had with the Father from the beginning.
  • "gift"
    • v. 22a. "I have given to them the glory which you have given me" this will become clearer in v. 26b below.
    • v. 24. "they are your gift to me": we are Father's gift to Jesus! Not pain and burden, but gift!
    • the final verse, v. 26b: "so that the love you had for me may be in them and I may be in them": Jesus gives us a magnificent gift-- the love of the Father and Jesus himself! In the Old Testament, God came to dwell in the Tabernacle among the people. In this gift of Jesus, God comes to dwell right in us.
  • "unity", the parallel between the two following passages makes clear the content of Jesus' prayer, namely the unity of Jesus' believers:
    • 21a. that they all may be one
    • 21b. just as you, Father, in me and I in you
    • 21c. that they also may be one in us
    • 21d. thus the world may believe that you sent me
      
    • 22b. that they may be one
    • 22c-23a. just as we are one, I in them and you in me
    • 23b. that they may be brought to completion as one
    • 23c. thus the world may come to know that you sent me.
    The first and third pairs: the goal is the unity of believers;
    The second pair: the model of the unity is between union between the Father and Jesus;
    The fourth pair: the effect of the followers' unity on the world.

The community of believers in Jesus have to strive for unity like that which exists between Jesus and the Father.

1. What relationship is there between love and unity? Can either exist without the other?
2. How united is my community (or group)? How can it become more unified?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community