Conclusion of Praparing The Apostles For His Departure-Prayer In The Upper Room

Prayer In The Upper Room

"That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am in union with you, . . .that they may be just as we are one." Jesus and his Father are not literally one person, but they are in agreement on all things. Jesus prays that his followers enjoy this same oneness so that "the world may have the knowledge that you sent me forth and that you loved them just as you loved me."

In behalf of those who would be his anointed followers, Jesus now makes a request of his heavenly Father. For what? "That where I am, they also may be with me, in order to behold my glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the founding of the world," that is, before Adam and Eve conceived offspring. Long before that, God loved his only-begotten Son, who became Jesus Christ.

Concluding his prayer, Jesus again emphasizes: "I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in union with them." For the apostles, learning the name of God has involved personally coming to know the love of God. John 14:1-17:26; 13:27, 35, 36; 10:16; Luke 22:3, 4; Exodus 24:10; 1 Kings 19:9-13; Isaiah 6:1-5; Galatians 6:16; Psalm 35:19; 69:4; Proverbs 8:22, 30.

Next time: Agony In The Garden

The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, 1991