Wednesday 22 January 2014

Background

In all the Octaves of Prayer for Christian Unity since 1908,this passage will probably have been read and heard more times thanany other. Numerous meditations have been offered on it; many otherprayers have quoted from it; and the longing for Christian unityhas been inspired by it.

The prayer of Jesus in chapter 17 is set after a long speech tothe disciples which follows their last meal together. During thatmeal, Jesus has washed his disciples' feet and given them a newcommandment: love one another (John13:34). During the speech, Jesus has told them what they canexpect to happen to them in the future. The next day Jesus iscrucified.

It is important to appreciate that, in his gospel, John uses theGreek word 'kosmos', which is translated 'world', in a number ofways. For example, he makes it clear that, in its broadest sense,the world is everything and everyone, created and loved by God; healso uses it to talk of the social world which hates Jesus and hisdisciples. In John 17, we read that the disciples are in the world(verse 11a) but do not belong to the world (verse 14) and thatJesus does not want them to be taken out of the world (verse 15)but has sent them into the world (verse 18).

Today's passage begins with Jesus asking his holy Father toprotect the disciples so that they may be one (verse 11b); a littlelater he asks God to protect them from the evil one because theyare in the world but, like Jesus, do not belong to the world(verses 15-16). Then Jesus asks God to sanctify them in the truthbecause he has sent them into the world (verse 17). The passageends on the theme of unity and Jesus prays not only on behalf ofhis first disciples, but also on behalf of those who will believein him through their word; he asks that they may all be one (verse20).

To Ponder

• In what ways do you think the Church needs to be protectedtoday?

• In what ways do you think the Church needs to be sanctified inor consecrated by the truth today?

• Jesus prays that his first disciples and those who will believein him through their word will be one so that the world may believe(verse 21) and know (verse 23) that his Father has sent him. How doyou see the relationship between unity and mission?