NOTES for Joh 17:20-26
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; |
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. |
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: |
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. |
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. |
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. |
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. |
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In today's passage from the Gospel of John, there is a very important idea for a Christian: the idea of unity, one of the foundations of the Church's understanding and experience. Moreover, in the Gospel it appears as what Jesus desired for His disciples almost more than anything else in the world.
The question is what kind of unity is meant by the words: "...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You..." and what follows. They are usually interpreted this way: Jesus called for everyone to hold the same doctrinal formulas and belong to one all-embracing church organization. Yet, as we know, formalism and over-organization kill, while living relationships give life.
Rather, this is not so much about a church structure uniting everyone under its jurisdiction, although such a structure often flows naturally from unity of faith and life in the Christian community; after all, everyone in our world has to take on certain legal obligations in order to coexist fully with other people. Much more plausibly, Jesus was inviting the disciples to seek inner unity, not horizontally but vertically: like His unity with the Father, each person should have unity with the Father and the Son, who come to the one who keeps Their word and "make Their home" in his heart and in his life. In fact, only through a living mystical bond with the Father and with the Word who reveals Him is the inner Kingdom built, spiritualizing human existence at its deepest depths. Then all everyday affairs and church projects receive a firm foundation in the hearts of people attuned to the hearts of the Three: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit...
Everything in this world is mortal: countries, peoples, and church structures, all of which can collapse before the eyes of a single generation, as happened in the tragic 1920s and 1930s in the Soviet Union. But what remains unchanged is that unity, that personal communion with God, which in any historical conditions and life circumstances remains the eternally flowing spring of Christian prayer and action.
Readings for 21 May 2026
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