John 17:20-23 (NIVUK)
20 ‘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 – 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.
Today’s reading comes from one of Jesus’ last prayers before the Cross. This prayer is worth reflecting deeply and repeatedly on. Jesus takes the unity that we thought of earlier this week that he enjoys with the Father and Spirit, and prays that we, the church, might know such unity ourselves. What would it look like if we could share a common love and vision as they do? What can we do to play a part in bringing that prayer into reality? He also prays that our unity would be in them, the Trinity. It is only from our relationship with God that we will be able to find unity with each other.
Father, Son and Spirit, you are the perfect demonstration of love and unity. Help us find such unity in you.
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