The Trinitarian Shape of Everything Text: John 17:20-26
Introduction: The Scandal of Real Unity
We live in an age that is desperate for unity, and at the same time, utterly terrified of it. The world offers two false paths to unity. The first is the path of sentimental mush, a lowest-common-denominator agreement where we all pretend that our deepest convictions do not matter. This is the unity of the bland leading the bland. The second is the path of coercive uniformity, the unity of the jackboot, where everyone is forced to march in lockstep under some secular banner, whether it be the rainbow flag or the clenched fist. Both are cheap counterfeits of the real thing.
The modern evangelical church, embarrassed by her own divisions and eager for worldly approval, has often pursued the first path. We talk about unity in vague, syrupy terms. We organize joint worship services where the only requirement is that no one says anything too definite about God. This is not unity; it is a conspiracy of silence. It is an agreement to treat the truth as though it were a minor domestic squabble, best not mentioned in polite company.
Into this confusion, Jesus' High Priestly Prayer lands like a meteor. The unity He prays for is not sentimental, and it is not coercive. It is glorious, substantive, and profoundly Trinitarian. It is a unity so real, so deep, and so otherworldly that its public manifestation is intended to be the final, irrefutable apologetic to a watching world. Jesus is not praying for us to organize a committee. He is praying for us to be swept up into the very inner life of the Godhead. This is a terrifying and glorious prospect. It is the bedrock of our faith and the engine of the Great Commission.
This prayer is not just for the eleven men in the room. It leaps across the centuries and lands squarely on us. Jesus is praying for you. And what He desires for you is not simply that you get along with the people in the pew next to you, but that you would be caught up in the same love and glory that has existed between the Father and the Son from all eternity.
The Text
"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even 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 sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
(John 17:20-26 LSB)
The Apostolic Foundation (v. 20)
Jesus begins by extending the reach of His prayer beyond the apostles.
"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;" (John 17:20 LSB)
This is us. Jesus is praying for the entire Christian church, from Pentecost down to the last saint saved before His return. But notice the condition. Our faith is not a free-floating, mystical experience. It is not something we discover by gazing at our navels. We are those who believe "through their word." The word of the apostles is the instrument of our salvation. This establishes the absolute authority and sufficiency of Scripture. Our faith is grounded in a specific, historical, propositional message delivered by Christ's chosen ambassadors.
This is a direct assault on all forms of enthusiasm and subjectivism that would detach faith from the biblical text. If your "Jesus" is someone you met apart from the apostolic word, then you have not met the Jesus who is praying for you here. The Christian faith is a received faith. It is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). There is no other way to come to Him.
The Trinitarian Blueprint (v. 21-23)
Here we come to the heart of the request: a unity modeled on the Trinity itself.
"that they may all be one; even 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 sent Me." (John 17:21 LSB)
The standard for our unity is nothing less than the unity of the Godhead. The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. This is not a unity of merger, where the persons collapse into one another. The Father does not become the Son. This is a perfect unity of distinct persons in a relationship of mutual indwelling and love. This is the solution to the ancient philosophical problem of the One and the Many. Reality is not ultimately a chaotic multiplicity, nor is it a static, impersonal monad. Reality, at its foundation, is a community. God is a society of three persons in eternal, loving fellowship.
And Jesus prays that we would be brought "in Us." This is staggering. We are not merely to imitate the Trinity; we are to be incorporated into its life. This unity, then, is not something we manufacture. It is a gift. It is a participation in the very life of God. And it has a purpose: "so that the world may believe." Our unity is our primary apologetic. A divided, squabbling church presents a divided, squabbling god to the world. A church united in the truth of the gospel displays the coherence and beauty of the triune God.
Jesus then explains how this is possible.
"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me." (John 17:22-23 LSB)
The engine of this unity is shared glory. The very glory the Father gave the Son, the Son has given to us. What is this glory? It is the glory of being a beloved son. It is the glory of adoption, of being brought into the family, of sharing in the inheritance. This shared status, this shared identity in Christ, is what makes us one.
And the result is that we are "perfected in unity." This perfection has a double-barreled evangelistic result. First, the world will know that the Father sent the Son. Our supernatural community validates Christ's supernatural claims. But second, and this should stop us in our tracks, the world will know that the Father has "loved them, even as You have loved Me." The way Christians love one another is meant to be a public demonstration of the Father's infinite love for His own people, a love equal to the love He has for His only begotten Son. When we bicker and slander and divide over secondary matters, we are not just failing at fellowship; we are lying to the world about the love of God.
The Ultimate Destination (v. 24)
Jesus now expresses His ultimate desire for His people, the end goal of our salvation.
"Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world." (John 17:24 LSB)
The ultimate hope of the Christian is not an ethereal, disembodied existence. It is to be with Christ. Heaven is heaven because that is where Jesus is. Proximity to Him is the prize. And why does He want us there? So that we might "see My glory." This is the beatific vision, the culmination of all our longings. We will behold the unveiled glory of the Son of God.
But notice the foundation of this glory. It is not something earned at the cross. It is the glory He had because the Father "loved Me before the foundation of the world." Our entire salvation is anchored in an eternal, intra-Trinitarian love affair. Before there was a planet, before there was a galaxy, before there was time itself, the Father loved the Son. We are the beneficiaries of that eternal love. God did not begin to love on Christmas morning. His love is the oldest thing in the universe, and it is the foundation upon which the universe was built.
The Great Exchange of Love (v. 25-26)
The prayer concludes with a stunning summary of Christ's mission and its ultimate goal for us.
"O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:25-26 LSB)
A great chasm separates the world from the church. The world is defined by its ignorance of the righteous Father. The church is defined by its knowledge of Him, a knowledge mediated entirely through the Son. Christ has made the Father's "name" known to us. This means His character, His attributes, His very being. And this work of revelation is ongoing: "and will make it known." Our Christian life is one of ever-increasing knowledge of God.
But for what purpose? Here is the breathtaking climax of the entire prayer. Christ reveals the Father to us for this reason: "so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." Stop and consider what this means. This is not simply that God will love us in the same way that He loves the Son. It is that the very love of the Father for the Son will be poured into us. It becomes the animating principle of our lives. The eternal love that is the very lifeblood of the Trinity is to be the lifeblood of the church. And how is this possible? The final three words give the answer: "and I in them." Christ's indwelling presence is the conduit through which this eternal love flows into our hearts.
Conclusion: The Final Apologetic
The unity of the church is not a matter of organizational strategy. It is a matter of Trinitarian reality. We are one because the glory of the Son has been given to us. We are one because the very love of the Father for the Son has been poured into us by the indwelling Christ.
Therefore, our pursuit of unity is not a matter of compromising the truth, but of living out the truth we all profess. It means we must be ruthless with our own pride, our tribal instincts, our party spirit, and our personal grievances. These things are not just unfortunate blemishes; they are a public denial of the gospel. They are a declaration to the world that the Father does not, in fact, love us as He loves the Son.
But when we, by the grace of God, begin to love one another across our differences, with a love that is clearly not of this world, the world will be forced to ask questions. Our supernatural unity is the sign that Jesus was who He said He was. Our love for one another, fueled by the very love of God Himself, is the final and greatest apologetic.