Click here for the John 17:20-26 PODCAST
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. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:20-26
In His longest recorded prayer, we come to the section the Lord Jesus prays for all who have believed on Him as our savior. In v.20, we read, "“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message."
In this section the Lord Jesus turns His attention from His eleven disciples to all of those who will believe through them. His prayer for us is for unity and intimacy with the Father and with His followers. Notice the mention of the words "in" and "know" in our text. The Lord Jesus uses the word gnosko which means "know." Gnosko is the intimate Greek word for the word "know." Gnosko is experiential knowledge of God. It involves all of the parts of our souls; our minds, wills and emotions. As a result, the heart is involved, which makes it possible for us to experience intimacy with Him and with other believers.
In v.21, we read, "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." The Lord Jesus is asking that in the same way the Father and the Son share life, it is His wish that all believers share the same life: the life of the Son in the believer producing unique intimacy and oneness with God and other believers.
The oneness He is speaking of is not outward union. In fact, this is why the Church at large, does not experience unity and intimacy. Having believed in the Lord Jesus and due to the indwelling Holy Spirit, all believers are a part of the family of God, and we naturally share His life together. When His life is experienced and shared, we will experience eternal life. This is when intimacy and oneness is experienced.
Notice the means by which this is produced in v.22-23: "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." The Father loved the Son which is the Son's glory. The same love enables the believer to love other believers and this creates the security and subsequent safety to experience His oneness among us.
Then, in v.24, the Lord Jesus prays for the church's ultimate destiny. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." This is the ultimate promise of the Scriptures: to be with the Father and the Son and the Spirit, in heaven, and to experience His glory, His unimpeded presence, this is the believer's ultimate destiny.
The Lord Jesus expressed His desire for believers to behold His glory and the purpose is that we may know His love. The glory of God is the totality of who He is, all His attributes. His love is one of those attributes. We behold, we experience the glory of God because He loves us. We should never stop at God's love, though. God's love simply draws us into all of who He is, the totality of His being.
God is love, but love is not God. His love by no means exhausts His essence. He is by nature love. His love draws us into worship all of Him. God can be known in part through His love. God can be known in totality through His glory. But inasmuch as Christ gives the glory of God to us, He gives his love to us, as well. God dwells in us. And if He dwells in us, His love dwells in us, as well. This is the same love the Father has loved the Son. The Father loves us like He loves His Son.
Notice the statement in v.24, "to see my glory." This means that we shall be like Him: 1 John 3:2 puts it this way: "When we see him we shall be like him." His glory will be something that we will actually experience. Then, we will share in His glory.
The conclusion of the prayer of the Lord Jesus is in v.25-26, which reads, "25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
The Lord Jesus addresses the Father as "righteous." Earlier He addressed Him as "holy" in the context of the disciples' sanctification, which renders holiness or completeness. Here, the Father is addressed as "righteous" in the context of our knowing Him. It is God's righteousness, given to us through faith in Christ, that enables us to know God.
Intimacy with the living God is the key to the life that we all long for deeply. It begins with the recognition of the Lord Jesus as "sent from God." It develops as we grow in our understanding of the Father's glory and love. God's glory is present in us for the purpose of oneness. Thus, His love is the trademark characteristic of His followers witness to the world. Our witness is the expression of our oneness, which is based in His love for us. And, it is growing us to be like Him: to be others-minded.
