Day 143: What is Oneness?
Today, we discuss one of the most significant truths in the Scriptures: Oneness. Jesus and the Father are “One.” Jesus prays that all of His people will be “One.” Through our “Oneness” we display the reality of who Jesus is.
WORDwork:
John 17:10
[Jesus praying] Everything I have belongs to you, and everything you have belongs to me, and I have been glorified by them. 17:11 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.
17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe and watched over them in your name that you have given me. Not one of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, so that the Scripture could be fulfilled.
17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves. 17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17:15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. 17:16 They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. 17:17 Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth. 17:18 Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. 17:19 And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart.
What does Jesus pray for his disciples in 17:11?
What did Jesus do for his disciples according to 17:12?
Why is Jesus praying this prayer in front of his disciples according to 17:13?
What did Jesus give His disciples and what was the result according to 17:14?
What does Jesus ask for his disciples in 17:17?
What did Jesus do for His disciples according to 17:19?
As you should see clearly by now, Jesus and the Father and the Spirit relate as One. Although they have different roles in terms of their “responsibilities” they all work together to accomplish a singular vision. It has often been simply (maybe over-simply) as the Father plans, the Son Jesus implements the plan, the Spirit empowers and administrates. We see this in the fact that it is the Son who takes on Human flesh and comes into the world to give His life as a ransom for sin, not the Father or the Spirit. This was to accomplish the Father’s desire/will. As Jesus returns to Heaven, He sends the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower His people. Even though they are working out different roles, they are completely One—unified—in their love and purpose. This will be a foundationally important truth as we move forward.
Jesus specifically asks the Father to keep his people safe as He returns to the Father. Just as the world hated Jesus, so too it will hate those who follow Him and especially those who are spreading His Good News. Notice that Jesus says “everything I have…”—the context makes it clear that the “everything” He has is His people. Jesus asks the Father to keep His people safe for a key purpose: so that they may be one as Jesus and the Father are one. We need to understand clearly what this means.
Earlier in John’s Gospel, the religious leaders had pointedly asked Jesus to tell them whether or not He was indeed the Messiah. Jesus responds,
John 10:25–30
“I told you and you do not believe. The deeds I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
In this passage, we see clearly that the purposes and goals of Jesus and the Father are the same: to protect their people, forever. Jesus gives us more context for this truth in other statements:
John 12:44–46
And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in Him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees Him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”
Here Jesus makes the point that to “see” Him is to “see” the One who sent Him: The Father. All that Jesus does is rooted in the thoughts and desires of the Father. They are unified, they are one in purpose.
A little later, at the end of Jesus time with the 12, He tells them that He will be going away, going back to the Father in Heaven. Thomas gives Jesus the opportunity to make one of His more “famous” statements:
John 14:5–9
Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be content.” 9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
The Oneness of the Father, Son and Spirit forms the foundation and example of what the Father and Jesus desire for us as their people: that we be One, completely united in mind and purpose. We will see this developed in more detail as we move along.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus had kept the 12 safe and had watched over them as a Shepherd. The only one that was “lost” was Judas the betrayer, but even this was necessary in the plan of God. As Jesus is returning to the Father, He knows that He is leaving His people in the territory of the enemy. In this section of the prayer, He is focusing on the care and protection of His people.
Notice now, that Jesus is praying this prayer out loud, in the presence of the 12. That is what He means in verse 3 where He says He is saying these things in the world. Jesus is praying all these things so that His people may have His joy completed in themselves. We are going to talk about joy a little later in more detail. For now, simply understand that joy is the key to all our deep personal relationships and attachments. Jesus endured the Cross for the “joy set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). In the context of this prayer, Jesus had just taught the men what they would need to know so that “my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). We will return to these truths a little later.
During His earthly work, Jesus gave His Father’s word to His people and now He would entrusting it to the 12. However, as we have seen and heard several times now, the World rejects and hates the truth. People hate and reject truth for the sake of whatever it is they love more than the Truth. Jesus knew this well. The “World” not only rejects and hates the Truth, but also Jesus and His followers who proclaim that Truth.
As you can see in verse 15, Jesus links the world with the Evil One—the Devil, Satan. The “World” is the domain of his influence. Even thought Jesus addressed this issue several times, John would give the most powerful statement of this truth in his first letter:
1 John 5:19
We know that we are from God,
and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Jesus and his people do not “belong” to this world. Jesus is from “above” and His people have been born from “above” (remember Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus in John 3?) Just as the World was hostile to Jesus, so it will be for His people. And so Jesus prays for the safety and care of His people in this enemy territory.
In 17:17 Jesus goes on to ask that His people be “set apart” in the Truth, the Father’s Word. The word that Jesus uses here is often translated as “sanctify.” As we discussed earlier, to “sanctify” something or someone is to set them apart for Father God’s purposes. When something is “sanctified” or “set apart” it is made holy.
In verse 19, Jesus affirms that He set Himself apart so that His people could be set apart. In the context, Jesus is most likely referring to the reality that all that He had done was not according to the way of the World, but the way of the Father. Jesus was not like any so called “savior” or “messiah” that had come before Him or after Him. He is different, He is set apart through His unique service and ultimately His self-sacrifice. He is set apart because He IS TRUTH.
Because of all that Jesus has done and is doing, His people are truly set apart. In this context, Jesus is focusing on the 12—the men that He choose to be witnesses to all that He taught and did and then send them to the World. Yet as we will see, as the people of Jesus we too are called to give witness to the Truth and Jesus is still sending His people out with His Gospel.
Can you explain what “Oneness” is and why it is central to Jesus relationship to the Father? If not, work through this reading again.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
