So that the world may believe.

John 17:20-23, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

How wonderful to know that before we even existed, Christ was praying for us and that even now he intercedes for us. He prays for our unity as believers with him and with the Father that the world may believe in him. How well we know that this is humanly impossible; only by his Spirit can we become “perfectly one.” Let us “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Anoint us with your spirit to be one; “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

ESV Lectionary