Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
"I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
Having prayed for himself and for his disciples Jesus continued his high priestly prayer by praying for those who would come to believe through the word of the disciples, the entirety of the new spiritual Israel of God (see Galatians 6:16).
so that they may all be one
Jesus did not pray primarily that his followers would be successful. His chief concern was not so much that they win arguments, persuade, and achieve power and influence. He asked not for the largest possible number of disciples but rather that those who did believe would be one. This oneness was a unity that was not a matter of mere consensus, not simply an alliance of shared interest. It was rather a supernatural unity with its basis in the oneness of the Triune God.
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
The oneness Jesus desired for the Church was to be rooted in something more the human convenience. Rooted in the union of the Father and the Son, the love who is the Holy Spirit, the union of the Church would give evidence of the truth of what Jesus said about himself. This would seem to be a problem for us in the Church, wouldn't it, since we can't seem to agree about anything? And yet the oneness of the Church herself exists in spite of members not being correct on every point of theology, even in spite of the fact that we don't always get along with each other any better than random individuals in the world. There is nevertheless a spiritual oneness which the Church has maintained through her two thousand year history. It becomes apparent only when we step back and look at her persistence through history in spite of so many forces of opposition arrayed against her. Without the supernatural grace keeping the Church in tact she doubtlessly would have found herself torn by disputes just as Paul was almost "torn to pieces" by the argument of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. But the Church bore out the validity of the wisdom of the rabbi Gamaliel, who said, "if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men" (see Acts 5:38-39).
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Jesus poured out the glory he himself received from the Father on the Church. He did this not because everyone in the Church was already perfect and deserving of such glory. Rather the glory of gave was that they might "be brought to perfection as one". This ought to be reassuring when we look at the Church in see, humanly speaking, something less than perfect. The oneness for which Jesus prayed is a supernatural reality that will always exist. But individuals are not automatically and immediately perfected and unified as a consequence. Rather, they work out their salvation by coming ever more deeply into the hidden spiritual reality that ensures the oneness of the Church. They are brought to perfection by the love of Jesus poured out for them, which is the same love he himself received from the Father.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.
It is not simply a cheap spiritual maxim to say that the Church is one. The oneness if the Church ensures us of our access to the inner life of God and the inner life of God is the basis of the guarantee of the oneness of the Church. Even though in history this oneness is not immediately apparent it nevertheless reveals itself in the lives of Christians who strive to embody it. Even when they fail those failures are taken up into a larger narrative and plan of God himself, preserving his rock solid promise. Even problems so difficult that they would seem to undermine our hope are not so great that they can't be used by God to reveal his glory.
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage.
For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem,
so you must also bear witness in Rome."
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