In the October 1995 issue of The Christian Conscience, I touched on this significant passage found in John 17. It is now my purpose to elaborate on my exegesis of the passage.
John 17:
21 "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."
Back in January 1993, I interviewed Peter Wilkes, who was the pastor of South Hills Community Church (SHCC) in San Jose, CA. Mr. Wilkes was theleader of the Joe Aldrich/Ed Silvoso/David Bryant-style "unity" movement going on among "evangelicals" in the South Bay Area at the time - this was essentially a pre-PK unity movement. During our meeting, I asked Mr. Wilkes about the unity thing specifically, pointing him to Eph.4:3, 13, and he responded to me that he preferred to define "unity" on the basis of passages in Scripture that speak of "one", especially the John 17:21-23 passage [as if Eph.4:3, 13 weren't "one" passages themselves! - HENOTES, the word for "unity" used in Eph.4:3, 13, is the neuter form of the greek word for "one"]. Mr. Wilkes then said to me something like this: "Now you may think Jesus' prayer has already been answered, but I think it needs to have an outward expression."
Since then, I have noticed this John 17:21-23 passage understood and applied in the same way as Mr. Wilkes did. Here are some examples:
"This then is one of the tasks of Christians as we make our way to the year 2000. The approaching end of the second millennium demands of everyone an examination of conscience and the promotion of fitting ecumenical initiatives so that we can celebrate the Great Jubilee, if not completely united, at least much closer to overcoming the divisions of the second millennium. As everyone recognizes, an enormous effort is needed in this regard. It is essential not only to continue along the path of dialogue on doctrinal matters, but above all to be more committed to prayer for Christian unity. Such prayer has become much more intense after the council, but it must increase still more, involving an ever greater number of Christians, in unison with the great petition of Christ before his passion: "Father... that they also may all be one in us" (Jn. 17:21)." (excerpt from AS THE THIRD MILLENNIUM DRAWS NEAR, Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II released on November 14, 1994.)
"As Christ is one, so the Christian mission is one. That one mission can be and should be advanced in diverse ways. Legitimate diversity, however, should not be confused with existing divisions between Christians that obscure the one Christ and hinder the one mission. There is a necessary connection between the visible unity of Christians and the mission of the one Christ. We together pray for the fulfillment of the prayer of Our Lord: "May they all be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, so also may they be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me." (John 17). We together, Evangelicals and Catholics, confess our sins against the unity that Christ intends for all his disciples. (excerpt from Evangelicals & Catholics Together, 3/29/94)
The one Christ and the one mission includes many other Christians, notable Eastern Orthodox and those Protestants not commonly identified as Evangelical. All Christians encompassed in the prayer, "may they all be one." Our present statement attends to the specific problems and opportunities in the relationship between Roman Catholics and Evangelical Protestants." (excerpt from Evangelicals & Catholics Together, 3/29/94)
"First, the issue is vital because the Bible reveals clearly that it's the will of Almighty God for His people to be united. Jesus said to the Father, "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. . . . 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" (John 17:20-23) ...If I understand those passages and others like them correctly, divisions should not exist among Christians. But we know that's not the case. We are divided along racial and denominational lines." (excerpt from Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper, Bill McCartney, pp.159-160)
"Jesus emphasized that His Bride must show unity so that we 'may be made perfect in one,' and so that 'the world may know that You have sent Me.' (John 17:23). When brothers genuinely dwell together in unity, they witness the love of God to those who don't know His love." (excerpt from The Awesome Power of Shared Beliefs, Randy Phillips, p.vi.)
"...we also see unity's purpose. The reason for unity is stated in John 17:21 - "that the world may believe." Unity results in greater effectiveness in ministry. One needs only to look around at all the Christians bickering with each other today to realize that the small effectiveness of the church is in direct relation to the extent to which the church is functioning in unity." (excerpt from The Awesome Power of Shared Beliefs, E. Glenn Wagner, p.26)
Are any of these men understanding and applying John 17:21-23 correctly? Or did Jesus have something else in mind in this "High Priestly Prayer" of His? The fact that this passage of Scripture is so foundational to the "unity" movements of the day suggests that this passage merits careful study. Let us begin...
Before Jesus prayed John 17:21-23, He prayed John 17:11...
"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."
In Verse 11, Jesus is praying for his immediate disciples (the apostles), that they may be "one as We are," a very familiar concept to those who know of John 17:21-23. It is important to observe here that the "one as We are" is the future destination Jesus desired for those whom the Father had given Him. In order for His disciples to attain this "one as We are" state, Jesus found it necessary to ask the Father to "keep" them through His name.
This theme of keeping (preserving), for some future destination, those whom the Father had given Jesus, was spoken of by Jesus on other occasions as well:
John 6:38-40 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 10:27-30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.
Peter also spoke of this "keeping" ...
1 Pet 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
.... as did Jude...
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
My purpose in quoting these verses is to suggest that this "keep" in John 17:11 ("keep through Your name those whom You have given Me") is a "keep them saved till they get to heaven" kind of "keep" that looks forward to the eschatological time when "they may be one as We are," a time when His disciples will be raised on the last day, unto eternal life, to a salvation which shall be revealed in the last time, when His disciples shall be presented faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
Notice also that the John 6 passage quoted above twice speaks of "sent me" (as does John 17:21), and the John 10 passage brings up the "I and my Father are one" idea (a la John 17:11, 1). Thus in John 17, Jesus seems to be alluding to His earlier teaching as recorded in the Gospel of John.
Now the next question becomes this: Are there any explicit passages in Scripture that speak of an eschatological "oneness"/"unity"? And I say that there are TWO in the book of Ephesians:
Eph 1:10; 4:13,15b That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one [literally, "head up"] all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: ... Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ... may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-- Christ--
I therefore present to the reader the suggestion that the "one as We are" in John 17:11 is eschatological, and will be fulfilled in the dispensation of the fullness of times following the Rapture/Resurrection. This "oneness" will involve all that Jesus kept for the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory which belongs to the age to come.
That having been said, it is important to notice how Jesus introduced the John 17:21-23 passage, with verse 20-21:
"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me
In verse 20 -21, Jesus seems to be praying the exact same thing for "those who will believe in Me through their word" that He did for His immediate disciples in John 17:11. In other words, whatever Jesus meant by "one as We are" in John 17:11 is the same thing He was talking about in John 17:21. I believe that this is a critical point, for if this "one as We are ... as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us," is something to be accomplished upon the personal return of Christ, then all these contemporary unity movements (the Roman Catholic Church, Evangelicals & Catholics Together, and Promise Keepers), all of which have founded their unity doctrine upon their understanding of John 17:21ff, are leading those who follow them astray!
At this point it might be interesting to note that Jesus' prayer in John 17 was to the Father - it was not a commandment directed to the Church via some sort of visable ecumenism.
We must also assume that Jesus was indeed praying according to the Father's will, and that therefore Jesus' prayer in John 17 must be answered. What this means is that whatever Jesus meant by "one as We are ...as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us," it must actually happen for Jesus' immediate disciples and those who believe in Jesus through their word. This is extremely important in light of the implied claim by some (PK for example) that this (allegedly visible to the 1990's "world") "oneness" will not have been fulfilled in the lives of many in the Church who didn't live on the earth circa A.D. 2000. Again, whatever "oneness" Christ was praying for must/will happen for ALL Christians who have lived from from Acts 2 unto the "dispensation of the fulness of times" (cf. Eph.1:10), not just those who lived in the end of the 20th Century in some restored/perfected pre-RaptureResurrection Church. The ONLY "oneness" that could include ALL Christians from Acts 2 - "dispensation of the fulness of times" would either (or both) be the unity/oneness that ALREADY exists (cf. Eph.4:3, 1Cor.12:13, Rom.12:5) via the common Baptism of the Spirit, or an eschatological/post-Rapture/resurrection unity that would include all Christians who ever lived. Right away this wipes out any other option for what Jesus could possibly have had in mind in His John 17:21ff prayer!
Let us continue examining John 17:
21 "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
Does not John 17:22 seem to be grammatically ("and") linked with John 17:21? I think so. If it is, than this "glory which You gave Me I have given them" is directly linked to "that they may be one just as We are one:" and, "that they also may be one in Us." The next question becomes, what is this "glory"? Jesus had earlier said in His prayer,
John 17:5 "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."
Is not this "glory" referring to Jesus' ascension into heaven? (cf. 1Tim.3:16, Luke 24:36, etc.)
I propose to the reader that this John 17:22 "glory" that is linked with a "oneness" is referring to "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col.1:27). What else could it be? Therefore, John 17:22 further establishes that the "one" in John 17:21 is Rapture/resurrection eschatological oneness/unity, spoken of in such passages as 1Thess.4:
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Onward in our examination of John 17:
22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
Now it sure reads to me like verse 23 is grammatically linked in thought to verse 22. This suggests that the "made perfect in one" in verse 23 is eschatological as well. "made perfect in one" itself looks forward to the eschatological perfection in Eph.4:13.
Jesus' ultimate desire relating to this oneness was so "the world may believe that You sent Me" (John 17:21), and "the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" (John 17:23). As was seen earlier, the ecumenical movements of the day are telling us that if Christians just followed them, and all got together in unity, then the world would attain saving faith/knowledge in Jesus, a.k.a., "unprecedented worldwide revival," or, as the inside dust cover of Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper puts it, "the entire world come to know God's love." But visible worldwide catholic church ecumenism is not the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, and believing and knowing that the Father sent Jesus, and loved those ("them") who believed in Jesus through the word of Jesus' immediate disciples, does not indicate sufficient content of the saving gospel either. In fact, Jesus is distinguishing "those who will believe in Me through their [His immediate disciples] word" from "the world," indicating that "the world" He is speaking of does not become part of the Church of Jesus Christ upon believing and knowing that the Father sent Jesus and loved those who believed in Jesus through the word of Jesus' immediate disciples. The only "world" that makes any sense in this passage is the world that will exist upon the 2nd Coming of Christ, a world that will believe and know that the Father sent Jesus, and loved the Church as the Father loved Jesus, a belief and knowledge that will follow the Church being made perfect in one at the Rapture/resurrection. That is the elegant truth of the matter.
John 17:24 lastly tells us:
"Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
Now this is obviously eschatological, and grammatically suggests (via the "also") that being taken to heaven is distinct from the actual "oneness" event - that leaves the Rapture/resurrection itself as THE "one as We are ... as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us ... perfect in one" event, an event distinct from the Church being taken to heaven to behold Christ's glory.
This whole "oneness" passage, from John 17:11ff, is eschatological. There is not even a hint of evidence that the John 17 passage has anything whatsoever to do with some end-times church unity that seems to have become a de facto "essential" doctrine in much of the "evangelical" church these days. Christians don't need to allow themselves to be baited by the promise of "unprecedented worldwide revival" in capitulating to the calls for "unity" coming from the Roman Pontiff, Evangelicals & Catholics Together, and Promise Keepers. Christians who value "biblical unity" should be eagerly waiting for the Day when the Church truely will be "made perfect in one ... that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." (John 17:23).
