John 17:20-26 (NRSV)
Read John 17:20-26 on biblegateway.com
Verse 20"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, Verse 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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. Verse 22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, Verse 23I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Verse 24Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Verse 25"Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. Verse 26I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."
Devotion
Jesus is risen!—Now what? Now—love.
Jesus' prayer in this passage, just hours before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, gives us a glimpse of just how much God loves God's people. He prays "that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." God's love for Jesus' followers is the same as God's love for Jesus—for God's own self.
If Jesus' prayer gives us a glimpse of God's love, then Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection put God's love on full display. Nothing—not sin, not suffering, not even death—can stop God's love for the world, or for you. What are you capable of today, knowing you are loved like this? How can you treat others, knowing they are loved like this? Jesus is risen!—Now what? Now—love.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, your resurrection assures us that love wins. Teach us to rest in your love, and then to share it with others, until all your people know they are beloved. Amen.