I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them

 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

"Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

- John 17:20-26

Starting from last Monday, we have been reading through Jesus' words and teachings to the disciples at the Last Supper.   This is His farewell discourse.  Chapter 17 constitutes what is called the High Priestly Prayer (begun in this Monday's reading).  Yesterday, we read that Jesus continued to pray, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved."  Jesus prays not only for His immediate disciples (these alone), but also for those who will believe through the word of the first apostles.  My study bible says here that the Church in every generation participates in the life and the glory of the Trinity.  Christians have two kinds of unity:  with God and with one another.  The latter is rooted in the former -- thus the two greatest commandments.   And if we look closely, we observe that this conclusion to the High Priestly Prayer is all about the unity of Father, Son, and Spirit, and with those who will follow and believe.  Jesus also speaks here of glory and being made perfect in this union and participation.   But ultimately the real crux on which hangs everything about our faith is the love of the Father.

"Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."  Here is more about the quality of unity:  Jesus prays that those whom the Father has given Him may be with Him, that they may behold His glory given by the Father, because the Father loved Him before the foundation of the world.  To declare the Father's name -- the extension of His Person, is to declare, know, and dwell with the Father's love.  My study bible says that the ultimate goal of Christ's prayer, and even of life itself, is for the love of the Father to dwell in each person.  This is the real definition of faith, of what our faith teaches us to believe and know.

Jesus dwells mostly on the unity of Father, Son, and believers in this last part of the High Priestly Prayer.  It's a kind of unity that will always draw and intrigue us, because Christ speaks of a unity that is the configuration, if you will, of what it means to abide in Him.  Christ abides in the Father, and yet both Christ and the Father dwell in us.  Unity here is much more than what is usually signified by the word "unity."  This is an indwelling, and it is an indwelling on multiple levels and through multiple combinations:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (as attested to in the farewell discourse when He promises several times that He will send the Helper), and the faithful:  those apostles to whom He speaks, and all those faithful who are to come: "also for those who will believe in Me through their word."  This unity of faith and indwelling and abiding are hallmarked through several important concepts of which He has also spoken through this farewell discourse:  glory, the name of the Father, and love.  Glory, as we have discussed in an earlier reading, is a kind of weightedness, a sense of value and substance.  Glory is that value which is added unto, assigned, given by the Father, a substance which then is a part of whatever is glorified.  The Father's name is an extension of Himself, just as whatever would bear the initials or stamp of a ruler was treated as an extension of His property and empire.  The name, according to one definition, is a manifestation of character, that which distinguishes this one person from all others, the presence of that person.  A name, in Jewish tradition, was inseparable from the person, something of the person's essence, and thereby the name of the Father is most sacred.  And finally, all of this is contained in and contains within it the Father's love.  Everything that we know and believe in as followers of Christ, all the abiding and indwelling Christ teaches us, the glory God can give and the glorification of the Father of which we are capable, praying and acting in His name -- all of this is within the love of the Father.  If that love is not shared, if we do not know it and live in it, we do not have Christian faith.  Over and over again, Jesus has criticized the religious leadership of His time, because they follow elaborate rules and traditions built up around the Law, but they fail to have the love of the Father in them.  He tells them that if they loved God, they would know Him.  And this is the great key to our faith.  It is quite simply love.  There is love in the Father and in the unity of the Trinity, and love for us and in us -- and we return that love.  Without it, what do we have?  If we do not know that love, what is our faith?  Everything rests in it, and we rest in it, as God dwells in us.  This is the way, the truth, and the life.  This is what He has given us, and it is this love that saves the world.   No rule or abstract principle or custom we make can ever replace this active, known love.  We do not know God without it.  It grows in us and builds in us the kingdom of God, like a mustard seed grows into a sturdy tree where even the birds of the air may take refuge.  It is love that is alive and grows and gives meaning.