In the gospel of John around Chapter 17, Jesus, our Savior prays not only for His disciples but for all who would believe in Him, through faith. Just before Jesus is taken captive, where He would later be crucified for the sins of the world, He prays these words, "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:” John 17:1. The time of Jesus’ death had come and the very event that would glorify the Son was His death on the cross. Through this sacrificial offering, Jesus our Savior, has received, love, adoration and worship of millions, whose sins He bore on a cross. He (Jesus) accepted this path to glory, knowing that by it He would be exalted to the Father. In the following verses, you'll find Jesus praying for you and I. I thank my Creator, God and Father, that I'm saved from eternal damnation and given the gift of life eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord!
John 17:20 “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;”
John 20:29 “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” This and (verse 20 above), are speaking of those who either hear or read the Word of God and believe just from hearing or reading the Word. Jesus prayed for all believers in Christ, even in our time. This prayer includes us!
John 17:21 “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.”
They … may be one conveys spiritual unity, not organizational unity. The basis of this unity centers in adherence to the revelation the Father mediated to His first disciples through His Son. Believers are also to be united in the common belief of the truth that was received in the Word of God (Phil. 2:2). This is not still a wish, but it became a reality when the Spirit came (Acts 2). It is not experiential unity, but the unity of common eternal life shared by all who believe the truth and it results in the one body of Christ all sharing His life. Here again, this is speaking of the spirit and not the flesh. We will see this as near as it has ever been, in the Book of Acts, when we read that they were continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication. This is what Jesus was speaking of. They had one common goal. They were all one in Christ Jesus. The problem with different denominations of Christians fighting is that the world is looking on and wondering: is Christ divided? Perhaps we should answer that we are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ when someone asks what we are.
John 17:22 “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:”
This refers to the believer’s participation in all the attributes and essence of God through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (verse 10; Col. 1:27; 2 Peter 1:4; as in verse 23 makes clear), “I in them”. Jesus will taste death for every man. Anyone who believes and follows Jesus, will be sons and daughters of the Father; adopted into the family of God. Our Savior will have paid the penalty for our sin and won for us the glorious inheritance of eternal life. We will be joint-heirs with Jesus. Romans 8:17 “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” You can read (Romans 8:14-17), to get the whole picture.
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