AUTHOR: Robin Fields
John 17:21-23
Jesus prayed for us.
He prayed that we would be joined together as one, just as He and The Father are one.
He prayed for us to become one with Him; with Them.
He prayed that the very glory that God had given Him, be given to us so that as we are joined together as one, we would and will experience the same joy the He enjoys with Father God.
He now lives fully in us so that we experience perfect unity!
In seeing our love for Him and for one another, the world will be convinced that He was sent by God.
In the Passion Translation footnotes on verses 23, it is stated that the Aramaic is “shrink into one.” When we see Jesus in one another, our vaulted opinions of ourselves will shrink. We begin to value others more highly.
In this, His Glory is revealed and shared among us, I believe.
I’m sharing pictures of a beautiful Gardenia bush that is planted by my back door. I’m always fascinated by the beauty and fragrance of these delicate flowers.
I think this plant is more precious to me because we once thought that it was dying. It appeared to be withering and brown. But we pruned it all the way back and slowly it began to live again.
I’m always excited when this plant begins to flower. It’s such a sign of redemption to me. I was thinking how glorious to see the different stages of this beautiful flowering plant. Some flowers are spent already, with their browning petals. Others are wide open, releasing such a gorgeous aroma. And still others are just budding, awaiting their time to bloom.
And so it is with us as Believers, as One. We are all one, in different stages, but of the same plant; joined together in this Glorious Relationship with the Holy Trinity and with each other.
Currently, we’re not able to gather together to enjoy each other as fully as before, but we can know that we are still One in Christ and that we can still experience the fullness of Joy that he prayed for us to enjoy. As we continue to connect in limited ways in the natural, we still release a fragrance that is unique to Christ. It’s a fragrance that draws others to want to discover the Source.
