Jn.17:22,23 – The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.
I can remember before I became a Christian how communities of people that had once been lively and vibrant suddenly shattered and fell apart. There had been a cluster of 25 or 30 people that used to do lots of things together (worldly things) that I was part of that got blown to pieces, shattered relationships never to be restored ever again. I suppose the problem with that was that the relationships were framed for our love of a certain lifestyle. In today’s passage Jesus is describing a supernatural community that would be birthed by their relationship with Him. This community would change the world. The key was their changed lives and their love for one another. Here is how Matthew Henry describes this.
“In general, it will commend Christianity to the world. The embodying of Christians in one community will greatly promote Christianity. When the world sees so many of those who were its children changed from what they sometimes were, they will be ready to say, We will go with you, for we see that God is with you. The uniting of Christians in love and kindness is the beauty of their profession and invites others to join them. When Christianity, instead of causing quarrels about itself, makes all other battles come to an end, when it disposes people to be kind and loving, seeking to preserve and promote peace, this will commend it to all who have anything either of natural religion or of natural affection in them.”
Now I know what some may be thinking, “I don’t see this kind of love displayed in His church today”. But on the other hand I have experienced seasons where this was exactly true and there is a community of believers within His church that are experiencing exactly this. This is the element our divided world longs for, a community of love that flows out of the love of God. It’s His love for us that changes us and causes us to be knit together with others in His love. Maybe just maybe we see the beginning of this miracle at work in our world again today.