![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/John_17_22.jpg)
| “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.” |
| —John 17:22-23a |
Several blog posts ago, I stated that, in the moments before Jesus was arrested by the armed emissaries of the high priest in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed a magnificent prayer. Bible teachers often refer to this as “Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.” Certainly, this prayer shows Jesus in the role of priest to His followers. It also expresses the highest of spiritual ideals.
Today, and for the next few blog posts, I intend to focus on this prayer of Jesus. It is my hope that by sharing verses from this prayer with you, you will find, as I have found, great comfort and great blessing from the words of our Savior.
Jesus continues this magnificent prayer with these words, found in John 17:20-23:
“My prayer is not for them [my current disciples] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
As we begin a new day, the very fact that Jesus prayed for us in the moments before He would be led off to the cross of Calvary should give us a strong sense of how very much He loves us and cares for us. The fact that since His ascension into heaven Jesus continues to make intercession in our behalf should bring us such a sense of peace that we can go forth in His name and do all that He longs for us to do. Let’s allow these wonderful truths to permeate to the very core of our beings.
