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John 17:20-26
Seventh Sunday of Easter C (Gospel) May 24, 1998
John 17:20-26
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me
through their message, [21] that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and
I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
[22] I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
[23] I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know
that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
[24] "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my
glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
[25] "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know
that you have sent me. [26] I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you
known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in
them."
(NIV)
John 17:20-23 (His prayer)
Our Lord especially prayed, that all believers might be as one body under one head, animated by one soul, by their union with Christ and the Father in him, through the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. The more they dispute about lesser things, the more they throw doubts upon Christianity. Let us endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, praying that all believers may be more and more united in one mind and one judgment. Thus shall we convince the world of the truth and excellence of our religion, and find more sweet communion with God and his saints.
John 17:24-26 (His prayer)
Christ, as one with the Father, claimed on behalf of all that had been given to him, and should in due time believe on him, that they should be brought to heaven; and that there the whole company of the redeemed might behold his glory as their beloved Friend and Brother, and therein find happiness. He had declared and would further declare the name or character of God, by his doctrine and his Spirit, that, being one with him, the love of the Father to him might abide with them also. Thus, being joined to Him by one Spirit, they might be filled with all the fulness of God, and enjoy a blessedness of which we can form no right idea in our present state.
(Matthew Henry Concise Commentary)