John 17:21

John 17:21 . For those who through their preaching believe on Him He prays that they may be one. Naturally the extension of the Church imperils its unity, the ἑνότης τοῦ πνεύματος , Ephesians 4:3 . “This unity is infinitely more than mere unanimity, since it rests upon unity of spirit and life.” Tholuck. This unity of all believers finds its ideal in the unity of the Father and the Son: καθὼς σὺ , πάτερ κ . τ . λ ., and not only its ideal but its unifying principle and element, ἐν ἡμῖν . This unity of all believers is to result in the universal belief in Christ’s mission, ἵνα ὁ κόσμος … ἀπέστειλας .

21. that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us—The indwelling Spirit of the Father and the Son is the one perfect bond of union, knitting up into a living unity, first all believers amongst themselves; next, this unity into one still higher, with the Father and the Son. (Observe, that Christ never mixes Himself up with His disciples as He associates Himself with the Father, but says I in THEM and THEY in US). that the world may believe that thou hast sent me—sentest me. So the grand impression upon the world at large, that the mission of Christ is divine, is to be made by the unity of His disciples. Of course, then, it must be something that shall be visible or perceptible to the world. What is it, then? Not certainly a merely formal, mechanical unity of ecclesiastical machinery. For as that may, and to a large extent does, exist in both the Western and Eastern churches, with little of the Spirit of Christ, yea much, much with which the Spirit of Christ cannot dwell so instead of convincing the world beyond its own pale of the divinity of the Gospel, it generates infidelity to a large extent within its own bosom.

But the Spirit of Christ, illuminating, transforming, and reigning in the hearts of the genuine disciples of Christ, drawing them to each other as members of one family, and prompting them to loving co-operation for the good of the world—this is what, when sufficiently glowing and extended, shall force conviction upon the world that Christianity is divine. Doubtless, the more that differences among Christians disappear—the more they can agree even in minor matters—the impression upon the world may be expected to be greater. But it is not dependent upon this; for living and loving oneness in Christ is sometimes more touchingly seen even amidst and in spite of minor differences, than where no such differences exist to try the strength of their deeper unity. Yet till this living brotherhood in Christ shall show itself strong enough to destroy the sectarianism, selfishness, carnality, and apathy that eat out the heart of Christianity in all the visible sections of it, in vain shall we expect the world to be overawed by it.

Our Saviour here prays on the behalf of such as should believe on him, that they might be one in faith, and one in brotherly love. Whoso considereth this as a piece of Christ’s prayer for believers, and that St. Paul hardly wrote one epistle to the primitive apostolical churches in which he did not press this by most potent argument, cannot but nourish some hopes, (how improbable soever it appears at present), that all the sincere disciples of Christ shall one day arrive at the keeping of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and likewise look upon themselves in point of duty obliged to endeavour it. To which pitch of perfection possibly Christians might soon arrive, if superiors would, after the example of the apostle, Acts 15:28 , lay upon their inferiors no more than necessary things; and equals would learn to contend for truth in love, and to walk with their brethren so far as they have attained; and as to other things, to forbear one another in love; and wherein any of their brethren are otherwise minded, then they are to wait till God shall reveal it to them, Philippians 3:15 . But this is not all the union which Christ prays for; he also prays that they might be one in the Father and the Son; that is, that they might believe; for faith is that grace by which we are united to, and made one with, God and Christ; though others interpret it of obedience, or such things wherein God the Father and Christ are one, &c.

For although so many as are ordained to life shall believe, yet that they might believe is matter of prayer: this our Saviour prays for, for the further glory of God, which is that which he meaneth by the world’s believing that God had sent him; there being no greater evidence that Christ is the true Messiah, than the general acceptance of the doctrine of the gospel, which he brought throughout the world; for who can imagine, that a new doctrine brought into the world by one of no greater reputation than Christ had in the world, and propagated by persons of no greater quality than the apostles were, should obtain in the greatest part of the world, if he that first introduced it had not been first sent by God into the world, and the apostles had not been extraordinarily influenced and assisted by God as to the propagation of it, after Christ was ascended into heaven?

John 17:21 . Ἵνα πάντες , that they all ) So, ἵνα ὦσιν , that they may be , in John 17:22-23 .— πάντες , all ) who believe through the word of the apostles. [Those being included in the meaning, who were led to the faith not by the ministry of those Twelve; for instance, Paul, and the multitude won over by him.—V. g.] The same blessedness is obtained for all believers as was for the apostles.— ἵνα καὶ , that also ) ἵνα , that , is here repeated, as if after a parenthesis, from the beginning of the verse.— ἐν ἡμῖν ἕν , one in us ) The words ἐν ἡμῖν , in us , add emphasis to that ἕν , one , repeated: and those words, ἐν ἡμῖν , in us , are deduced from καθὼς , even as , etc.— ὁ κόσμος ) the whole world at last.— πιστεύσῃ , may believe ) when it shall see believers full of us [filled with the abiding Spirit of the Father and the Son]. There follows by gradation, γινώσκῃ may know , in John 17:23 . Comp. John 17:8 , “They have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed .” With the world , the first stamina (groundwork) of faith precede the further and fuller knowledge , which follow. With actual believers , full faith follows close upon solid knowledge .

21 . That they all may be one ] This is the purpose rather than the purport of the prayer: Christ prays for blessings for His Church with this end in view,—that all may be one. as ] Or, even as . The unity of believers is like the unity of the Father with the Son ( John 10:30 ), not a merely moral unity of disposition and purpose, but a vital unity, in which the members share the life of one and the same organism (see on Romans 12:4-5 ). A mere agreement in opinion and aim would not convince the world. See on John 17:11 . Omit ‘art,’ which is an insertion of our translators. may be one in us ] The balance of authority is against ‘one,’ which may be an explanatory gloss. In John 6:56 and John 15:4-5 Christ’s followers are said to abide in Him: this is to abide in His Father also. hast sent ] Better, didst send (comp. John 17:18 ). The eternal unity of believers with one another will produce such external results (‘see how these Christians love one another’), that the world will be induced to believe. Christian unity and love ( Matthew 7:12 ; Luke 6:31 ; 1 Corinthians 13) is a moral miracle, a conquest of the resisting will of man, and therefore more convincing than a physical miracle, which is a conquest of unresisting nature. Hence the divisions and animosities of Christians are a perpetual stumbling-block to the world.

(21) That they all may be one — i.e., both “these” (the Apostles) and “them also which shall believe on Me through their word” (the whole body of believers in all times and places). He expresses in this grand thought of the unity of the whole Church the fulness of the purpose of His prayer. As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.—The insertion of “art,” which, as the italics show, is not in the original text, weakens the sense. It is better, therefore, to omit it. The word “one,” in the second clause, is of doubtful authority, and has the appearance of a gloss. The probable reading, therefore, is, That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; and the meaning is that the union of the Church may be of the same essential nature as that between the Father and the Son; yea, that the union of the Church may result from the union of individual members with the Father through the Son. (Comp. John 14:23; John 15:4-10, et al.) The Father in the Son and the Son in the Father; both Father and Son taking up their abode in the believer, and the believer, therefore, in the Father and the Son. This is the ideal of the unity of the Church of Christ; and if this union with God is realised by each individual, it necessarily follows that all the individuals will be one with each other. (Comp.

Notes on Ephesians 4:4 et seq.) That the world may believe that thou hast sent me.—The result of the union of believers with God, and therefore with each other, will be that the world will see in it a proof of the divine origin of Christianity, and will believe that the Father sent the Son into the world. As this will be the result, it is thought of as the purpose of the prayer for the whole body of believers. Instances of this result crowd involuntarily upon the mind. The brotherhood of Christians has ever been the witness to their common Fatherhood in God. The divisions of Christendom have ever been the weakness of the Church and the proof to the world that, in that they are divided, they cannot be of God. (Comp. Note on John 13:35.)