Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Importance of Unity | New Testament | John 17

Episode Date: December 25, 2023

Jesus grew up in a time of culture war and unrest. Sound familiar? In John 17, we find out what Jesus was praying for and what was most important to him in the days before his death. Join Keith in today's episode. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: John 17

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. Jesus and his disciples lived in a time very similar to our day, in that like us, they live during a culture war. In our world, the tribes are made up of conservatives and progressives, people who live in the city and people who live in the country, the poor and the rich, the religious and the irreligious, men versus women, and boomers versus every other generation.

Inside Judaism, there were also different tribes, and each tribe had their own perspective on how to respond to Rome. See, the Roman Empire was the major superpower and covered a vast part of the world. Its borders stretched from North Africa to Europe to the western part of Asia. The Roman general Pompeii seized Jerusalem in 63 BC. Rome had a relentless ambition for expansion, leaving a trail of conquered nations as it touted its motto, Pax Romana, or the Peace of Rome. But Rome brought peace by the power of the sword. Within the Jewish community, there were different tribes with different perspectives about how followers of Yahweh should interact with the Roman government.

One very popular perspective was that it was right and good to assimilate into Roman culture. This was the position of two groups that are found in the Gospels, the Sadducees and the Herodians. Those advocating for assimilation said something like, when in Rome do as the Romans. They mimic the lifestyle and practices of their non-believing neighbors. If the first group said assimilate, the next group said the right thing to do was separate from the Romans. This was the position of the Pharisees and the Essines. The Pharisees separated through religious ritual. The Essines took separation further by moving into small religious communities away from population centers. They didn't want anything to distract them from their spiritual lives, so they lived.

lived out in the wilderness. For the people who wanted to separate, purity was the name of the game. So we've got the assimilate tribe and the separate tribe. The last tribe said to eviscerate Rome by attacking it, both politically and by physical violence. The zealots believed it was right to use any means necessary to fight against the Roman authorities with the hopes of overthrowing them. Within that group of zealots were the Sakari. These were men who said it was right to assassinate Roman officials if he had the opportunity. So each of these tribes in the Jewish community thought the other tribes were either bullies or backpedalers, hard-headed or hesitant, stubborn or spineless. Having grown up in an age of political unrest and seeing division in his own community,

Jesus knew exactly what his disciples needed. And in John 17, in his final hours, we find Jesus praying for his followers. Now before I read from the passage, I just want you to think What would you be praying for in your final hours? You wouldn't be praying for a parking spot, would you? No, of course not. You'd be praying for things that are most important to you. So what was Jesus praying for? What was most important to him?

The unity of his followers. That's what he's praying for. Let's listen in to his prayer, John 17, verse 20. My prayer is not for them 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 and them and

you and 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 Jesus prayed this prayer, he was surrounded by people who were trapped in this culture war. I mean, picture is Simon. He's one of Jesus' disciples who's called a zealot, because he came from a particular political party that wanted to use violence to overthrow Rome. But then there's Matthew, another disciple, and he's a tax collector. He's someone who collaborated with Rome to tax the Jewish people. Simon would have called Matthew a traitor, and if given the opportunity, he might have even killed them. Yet both of these men heard Jesus, believed in him, began to follow him, and

now they're hearing Jesus pray, not once, not twice, but three times that they would be unified with all the other followers of Jesus. See, Jesus knows exactly what he's doing. This has been God's plan all along to bring together a community of people with different beliefs and different values and different customs and different voting habits and different levels of education and levels of wealth, to bring them all together under one God, one Savior, one faith, one baptism, one church. deed at the same table, to share their thoughts, to struggles, and to pray for one another, and encourage one another as they follow Jesus together. And notice how Jesus ends his prayer.

He says, if my followers do that, then the world will know that God sent him. In other words, what he's saying is if my followers are unified across all their differences, then the world will know that the father has sent the son. What John 17 reveals to us is that in the middle of the world, a culture war, unity among Christians is the best form of evangelism. When followers of Jesus are united together, the world notices, even during Jesus' ministry, we see him already beginning to peak the interest of people outside the Jewish community, because he's inviting a Cyro-Fenician woman to follow him, and a Roman centurion to follow him, and a Samaritan woman to follow him. And of course,

that trend only continues after the resurrection. You get to the book of Galatians, and And you see Paul saying, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Of course, Paul's not saying there are no Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, or male or or female. What he is saying is that what they have in common in Jesus is far more significant, far more substantive than what separates them. You see, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul saw himself as working to fulfill what

Jesus had prayed for. It's only because of Jesus that culture warriors are turned into companions. Now, fortunately for us, we don't live under Roman oppression, and yet we know what it's like to live in culture wartime. We know what it's like to live among different tribes with different beliefs. We know what it's like to hear arguments, Trump or Biden, Israel or Palestine, pro-life or pro-choice, black lives matter or blue lives matter, Starbucks or black rifle, Twitter, or truth social. As Christians, our ultimate allegiance goes to King Jesus. Yet the issues of our day are important, and Christians have a responsibility to confront them with both grace and truth, but not at the expense of attacking your brothers and sisters in Christ. When that happens,

the salt lost its saltiness. The light of the church is dimmed. Our witness is compromised. Jesus's prayer for unity is still relevant for us today. In fact, we get a special shout-out from Jesus in verse 20. We are those who will believe in Jesus through the disciples' message. So 2,000 years ago, Jesus prayed for unity in his church today. God's plans haven't changed. He's still bringing together a diverse group of people to worship and serve him. So how can you begin to plant the seeds of unity in your church today? Maybe there's someone in your life. Maybe there's someone in your life, who's a follower of Jesus that you disagree with on political or social issues. How can you begin to work to fulfill Jesus' prayer for unity in your relationship with them?

Or maybe if you're being honest, your closest group of friends look a lot like you. They think a lot like you. They talk a lot like you. They vote a lot like you. Maybe your pursuit for unity in the church looks like sparking a conversation, building a bridge, building a relationship with someone from a different social status or who voted for a different candidate or has a different skin color. In our church, there were a couple of women who were in a small group together. And as the Christmas season approached, the group talked about buying gifts for each other. And it's really funny how this played out because one of these women was a big Obama supporter. And the group knew that about her. And they got her the Obama biography. And the

other woman, she was a big Trump supporter. And they got her a pair of socks that said Trump on them. Both of these women took a picture, one holding the Obama book, the other holding her Trump socks with a big smile on their face. Because you see, here's a thing, they're friends. They know they disagree on things, but they know that what they have in common in Jesus is far more important than what separates them. They want to pursue unity, not meaning that they have to think the exact same way, but meaning that they can love people who are different than them. Don't you want to be a part of that kind of community? And don't you want to be a part of a church community that doesn't shy away from tough subjects, but doesn't allow those subjects to tear apart the community that Jesus built.

Jesus prayed for the unity of our church. Let's pursue it. Amen.