May 21, 2026
Passage to read: John 17:1-26
“That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn. 17.21).
All of John 17 records Jesus praying. It is the longest prayer by anyone in the New Testament.
In praying this prayer in the presence of his disciples, Jesus is not just letting them in on his relationship with his Father, he is, I think, imparting the prayer in them. Not just to them but in them.
The author of John’s Gospel records the prayer to make it available as an impartation to all of Jesus’ disciples of every generation.
I believe it embodies Jesus’ vision for his disciples, humanity, and the world. I believe it embodies God’s hope and vision, God’s purpose in creating the creation.
We are faithful … devout … wise … to ruminate in this prayer, to roll it over in our heart, mind, and soul, to imagine it throughout the day … to sit with it in silence … until we become this prayer.
Jesus concludes, “So that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”
You remain in my prayers,
Jim
