Jesus prayed,
I
pray not only for these followers but also for those who will believe in me
because of their teaching. Father, I pray that all who believe in me can
be one. (John 17:20, 21 ERV)
So, what’s going on with His
followers nowadays? We say we believe in Jesus; we gather together as
congregations; we look the part and act the part but…anyway.
It is written in 1 Corinthians 11:30-33 (MSG),
If you give no thought (or
worse, don’t care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink,
you’re running the risk of serious consequences. That’s why so many of you even
now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. If we get
this straight now, we won’t have to be straightened out later on. Better to be
confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.
So, my friends, when you come
together to the Lord’s Table, be reverent and courteous with one another. If
you’re so hungry that you can’t wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich.
But by no means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a
family squabble. It is a spiritual meal—a love feast.
This translation gets the message across. Apostle Paul is clearly
saying that those who partake of the sacrament of communion while refusing to
see or pay attention to each other as being part of the Lord’s body are running the risk of serious consequences,
which he details as listlessness, sickness and an
early grave.
Not my words. Paul’s warning to the Corinthians then, is applicable
to us today. We cannot continue to be ignorant of the dire spiritual effects our
behaviour can cause.
Jesus Christ suffered, His body “broken” for all of us, yet
we turn what is meant to be a time of fellowship throughout the Body of Christ,
which is His Church, into a church-family squabble. Have we no regard for the
sanctity of Christ’s sacrifice?
There is one loaf of bread,
so we who are many are one body, because we all share in that one loaf. (1
Corinthians 10:17 ERV)
Jesus continued His prayer,
You
are in me and I am in you. I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the
world will believe that you sent me. I have given them the glory that you
gave me. I gave them this glory so that they can be one, just as you and I are
one. I will be in them, and you will be in me. So they will be completely
one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you loved them just as
you loved me. (John 17:21-23 ERV)
When potential converts enter
your church, will they believe that the Father sent the Son? Will they believe
that the Father loved them just as [He] loved [Jesus]?
Will they see unity but sense division?
Oh, how wonderful, how
pleasing it is when God’s people all come together as one! (Psalm 133:1 ERV)
David, a man after God’s own heart, understood the unity of
one.
Jesus continued with,
Father,
I want these people you have given me to be with me in every place I am. I want
them to see my glory—the glory you gave me because you loved me before the
world was made. (John 17:21-23 ERV)
Beloved, oneness was and still is, Jesus’ passionate desire.
This passion can be seen in His prayer which is a picture of the oneness Jesus
shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus had already emphasized that He and the Father are one
(see John 10:30) and solidified that truth more so when He prayed for the unity
of believers, not just with each other but with the Father, the Son and the
Spirit, so that we may be made perfect in One.
The sad fact is, as a church, we can never be completely one
in Them if we cannot even achieve oneness with each other.
Amen †
Shelley Johnson “Jesus’
Passionate Desire” © 2026
August 7, 2026
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