Bible Text: John 17:20-18:1 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: Prayer Treachery & Valor

Recap of 3/3/13 (John 17:20-18:1):
1.  In John 17:20-26 Jesus prays for future disciples (us!).  He is vitally concerned for the unity of believers.  It would be the oneness of the church predicated upon love which would be its (our!) greatest witness in the world.
 
2.  “A world characterized by selfishness, greed, strife, and division needed to have evidence that believers were rightly related to the Father and to the Son by the unity they displayed in their relationships with each other.” (J. Dwight Pentecost)
 
3.  The unity of which Jesus speaks is not unity of organization, or of worship styles, or of government, or of philosophy of ministry.  It is rather spiritual unity which is meant, not uniformity or organic union.  It is a unity expressed in love, patience, gentleness, humility, meekness, and long-suffering exhibited toward other believers. The question for each of us is “what is our tipping point?”  What is it that can cause us to act unlovingly toward other believers, others in general? Is it a perceived slight to us, our spouse, our children?  It is not getting our own way?  Do I want the good of others or just to have my own way?
 
4.  John 18 begins the fourth division of the book of John.  There is: Prologue (1:1-18); Public Teaching and Miracles (1:19-12:50); Private Teaching (13-17); Passion and Resurrection (18-20); and Postlude (21).
 
5.  John’s account of the Garden of Gethsemane differs from the other gospels in that He does not include Jesus’ agony, His sweating great drops of blood, telling His disciples to pray, or taking Peter, James and John further into the garden with Him.  In character with John’s purpose, he focuses on Jesus’ deity and power in His encounter with those coming to arrest Him.  It was He who was in charge of the situation, not them, despite the overwhelming force arrayed against Him and their weapons.