This prayer is for us! Jesus was praying for the people who would come to believe in Him as a result of the apostolic gospel. We never met Jesus face to face, but we have believed in Jesus because of what the apostles wrote about Him. Jesus designed His church to be united around one gospel, empowered by one Spirit, having one hope of eternal life (Ephesians 4:4-6). The unity of the church is not the uniformity of a club held together by many rules; but the organic unity of origin and purpose which should characterise a family.
The external purpose of the church is to let the world know that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. God’s plan is that we should be so eager to proclaim Jesus, that the world will see that His honour is our chief concern. The glory of the church is not in its vestments or architecture, but in the transformed lives of ordinary people who have given themselves to Jesus.
Much is said about Christian unity which has little connection with this prayer. People talk about committees, councils, and projects; but Jesus was praying for a common desire to evangelise the world in ways which give glory to Him. Others think of unity as enjoying membership of a big club; but Jesus was praying for people who would risk their lives to preach the gospel and save the lost. Some think that unity is about loving each other - so that our unity becomes an idol; whereas Jesus is concerned that everybody may know they are loved by God to the same extent that Jesus knew He was loved by His Father. Where the gospel sets the agenda, unity enables it to be effective (Philippians 1:17). If your Christian fellowship is not based on working together in the gospel, it is defective. The church which works at spreading the gospel will see people believe in Jesus; and He will be glorified.
