He wants to know me?
by Stuart Gray
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[My prayer is] 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 (John 17:21).
I once participated in a game ‘who is the most famous person you have met?’ As a small group of people, we had quite a list of notable people we had met. We were in awe that we had been in close contact with these people.
So try to imagine just how awesome it is that the creator and co-creator of the universe not only want to meet us but want to have a deep and loving relationship with us. In fact, Jesus wants us to have the same relationship with him as he has with his Father. That’s really awesome.
Jesus also prays that the relationships we have among and between ourselves are modelled on the relationship he has with God.
Most of us have experienced love in our human relationships – love for spouses, parents, children, other family members and friends. But what often happens is we get caught up in the messiness of our relationships, the conflicts, the dramas, the hurt caused either deliberately or unknowingly, and the issues caused by uneven growth and development of individuals within a relationship.
Jesus fervently prays that our relationship with each other and with him is the same as with his Father.
Jesus prays that we be with him so we can see his glory – it’s awesome beyond imagination that the Father and Son, creators of the universe, want to personally share with us the glory of creation.
God becoming man and Jesus paying the ultimate sacrifice and overcoming death gives us access to God. Jesus lived as we do, among us and in us.
I am more aware of the chasm between what Jesus prayed for and who I am, than I am of the love that Jesus prays for. Yet Jesus says our love for each other and him is a witness to him and his relationship with God.
John places this prayer just before Jesus is betrayed. Even knowing the fate that awaits him, he selflessly wants for all believers the indwelling relationship Jesus has with his Father.
Heavenly Father, we pray that our relationships in the world reflect the relationship between you and your Son, Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, that the world believes your Son died to reconcile the world to you. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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