Jesus Desires Unity

𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟐𝟐:𝟑𝟎; 𝟐𝟑:𝟔-𝟏𝟏

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟔:𝟏-𝟐, 𝟓, 𝟕-𝟏𝟏 “𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞, 𝐎 𝐆𝐨𝐝; 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟕:𝟐𝟎-𝟐𝟔

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞” (𝐯.𝟐𝟑) 

As we come to the end of this prayer of Jesus that appears only in the Gospel of John, it would be a good idea if you could copy and print it and keep it handy or mark it in your Bibles and you can go over it when you are meditating and or whenever you feel depressed or down and no one to turn to.

            For one this prayer of Jesus shows not just the depth of his love for us and his fervent desire that we be united with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit but what is so moving was the part when he prayed that we remain under the constant protection and care of God.

            This is relatively important because in order for us to really get into a relationship with God, it would do us a lot of good to know that Jesus had nothing in his heart but compassion and his deep concern for our welfare and interest even during the time when he was just hours away from being betrayed.

            At the core of this prayer of Jesus is his desire that we be united with God and such unity can only be forged if we enter into a relationship with God through Christ, a relationship that is founded on our complete submission of our human will to the Will of God.

            In like manner, for us to become one with God we must become one with Christ which means that we have to restructure both our temporal and spiritual nature with the character of Christ. As disciples we must position ourselves to that of a learner who never tires of learning.

            Remember what Jesus said in Jn 16:13 “and he will tell you what is yet to come.” In an apparent reference to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives Jesus is telling us that new things will be revealed to us in the days to come which means that we need to be aware of the movement and prompting of the Holy Spirit who is going to teach us these new revelations.

            It only goes to show that for anyone who will embrace a life of discipleship we should not stop learning and for us to become a witness to the ends of the earth (Ac 1:8) we need to enter in, develop and nurture a genuine relationship with God through Christ for how else can we proclaim the Gospel of Christ to others if we don’t know anything about him.

            To know Christ is to walk with him, listen to him through the Sacred Scriptures and from what he says which can be passed on to us through other mediums and, to obey everything that he tells us. This means that we need to put our entire trust and confidence in Him because it is only in doing so that we can find our way to eternity because Christ is the Way, the Truth and, the Life.

            What stands out in this Gospel was the great desire of Jesus for his disciples to become one and this should also serve as a clarion call for the lay faithful of the Catholic Church and members of all Charismatic Communities to unite not only among themselves but with God through Christ because this is the only way we can become powerful witnesses to the reality of God’s love.

            And this is the question we need to ask ourselves. Are we also praying for the unity of all Christian believers since love and unity is the distinctive mark of those who follow Jesus who is pleased when we dwell in unity. As the Psalmist says: “How good and delightful it is when brethren dwell together in unity.” (Psa 133:1)

            Thus, it is sad when we see disciples who cause disunity causing congregations to break up and scatter instead of keeping them as one flock. Differences of opinion in the way a community, district, ministry or apostolate should be governed should not get in the way of what is primordial which is to establish God’s Kingdom in the hearts of men.

            Conflicts and arguments will always be present even in a spiritual community. Didn’t the mother of James and John almost caused disunity among the disciples when she asked Jesus to allow her sons to sit on his right and left? (Matt 20:21, Mk 10:37)

            It is worst when leaders who should sow unity and harmony become the cause of disunity and we see this everywhere. Worst even is when we ignore our duty to promote unity because we are beholden to those who are involved. And this often happens when we look at the vineyard as owners and not as workers.  

            In the final analysis, relationships and even the flow of authority in  a community break down when there is no submission to the kingship of Christ that is rooted in humility and obedience. This often happens when men especially leaders haven’t and couldn’t get their human nature to be nailed to the cross and allow Christ to resurrect in their lives. And this happens when we merely pay lip service to confessing Jesus is Lord.

            This prayer of Jesus is a continuation of his prayer at the Last Supper which concluded with a petition for Christian unity among all who profess Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus prays for all men and women who will come after him and follow him as his disciples. In a special way, Jesus was actually praying that we as members of his body the church would be one as he and his Father are one.

            The unity of Jesus and his Father is a unity that is forged in love and perfect obedience and a unity that is engraved in personal relationship. We should not forget that Jesus loved us first and united us with him in baptism and thus we are called to live in unity with him in love. This prayer of Jesus on the eve of his sacrifice shows the great love and trust he has in his beloved disciples.

            He knows that his disciples would abandon him, yet he still entrusted them with the great task of spreading his name throughout the world. The Lord entrusts us with the same mission – to make him known and loved by all. Jesus died and rose again that all might be one as he and the Father are one. This is our calling. How we will respond will depend on how much we know him and how much we love him. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺- 𝘔𝘢𝘺 21, 2026)