Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, March 29, 2014 Read John 17:20-26 The final section of Jesus’ prayer is the most precious for all of John’s readers. Suddenly, we become part of the story! Jesus prays not only for those who are with him as he goes to the cross. He also prays for all those who come to believe in him through the witness of those first followers. Of course John had his own community in mind. But he also had people like you and me. Jesus cares about you enough to pray for you! The focus of Jesus’ prayer is that we might be one. The witness of the gospel depends upon the unity of the body of Christ. Where there is disunity the mission is hindered. The world can only really know that God has sent Jesus when the world sees the unity of Christ’s body. That ought to strike each one of us with humility and with a deep concern for the church. When one looks back over the course of time it is a tragedy how fractured the body of Christ has been. When one looks at the world today we also know the tragedy of a divided church. We need to hear the prayer of Jesus clearly. No cause or personal belief is worthy of dividing the body of Christ. Of course Christians will never agree with one another about everything. Our experiences differ. In fact, it seems, God loves variety! But this prayer more than any other place in scripture demands of us that we strive for unity in the midst of diversity. It is only arrogance that tells us that we are right and others are wrong that causes us to put our own beliefs ahead of the plea of Jesus. At the heart of Jesus’ prayer is also love. Love has been an important part of John’s gospel. The only commandment Jesus gives in the gospel of John is that we love one another. To love one another is to put others ahead of ourselves. Love is to invest ourselves in others – to lose ourselves for the sake of others. Love is to seek to imitate Jesus.