Oneness is More than Unity

In the Gospel of John, the author takes 5 of 21 chapters to focus on what Jesus says to his disciples the night before he is arrested. Interestingly, there is no reference to the last supper and the sharing of the bread and wine at all in this section, and it ends with what is known as the "high priestly prayer" of Jesus in chapter 17. This prayer has traditionally be taken to be a prayer for Christian unity, but if that is all that is meant in it, it does a tremendous disservice to the magnificent acknowledgement of the oneness shared by Christ and the Father in which we share. John is trying to describe a theological understanding that has been contemplated for some time now, and which we would do well to explore further ourselves!