The Power of Unity
The Bible teaches us that on the Thursday before Easter, there were many things happening.
Jesus and His disciples observed the Passover meal together - John 13:1-30
Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, our memorial supper – Mark 14:22-26
Jesus washed the feet of His disciples – John 13
And Jesus taught His disciples – John 13-16
But something else occurred on this day that we must know. Jesus prayed! Now that may not sound astounding to us but John 17 records what we call Jesus’ High Priestly prayer. Here we find Jesus praying for us. Before we go too much further, remember something very important. Jesus is merely hours from His arrest, trial, scourging, crucifixion, and death. And yet, though Jesus knows what is waiting ahead, He is praying for us. His eyes are not on Himself; He is praying for us - for YOU!
Did you know that Unity is imperative to Jesus? That is right; Jesus desires that His children “be one.” In John 17:22-23 the Bible says, “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 love them, even as You have loved Me.”
Get the scene carefully; here is Jesus praying, hours before His death. And He is praying for His followers, that is you and me, to be unified… unified with a purpose. That purpose is that the world may know Jesus.
According to God’s Word, one of the most powerful tools we as believers have to win the world to Jesus is unity. Nothing can be more damaging to our testimony in Christ than for God’s people to be in conflict with one another. Our unity is a powerful testimony to a world that needs the hope of Jesus Christ.
If Jesus took the time during His last hours on earth to pray for unity, what then should we do? The answer is found in God’s Word. In Ephesians 4:3 we are “to be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
We don’t produce unity; Jesus did that for us. We preserve unity. We keep it. We die to self, live for the glory of Jesus, put others first, and thereby preserve unity. It may just be that through the power of unity, we will see our city, our friends, our coworkers, and our neighbors come to know Jesus. Are you preserving unity in the Body of Christ?