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THE OTHER PURPOSE JESUS DIED FOR     

In John 11:49-52, the gospel tells us that the Jewish high priest said that Jesus must die to save the nation, in which the meaning is well understood--​to save not only the nation, Israel, but all of us from the due penalty of our sins. But John adds an interesting note. John says that the high priest also prophesied that Jesus would die “not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” Jesus died for the oneness of the Church. 
 
Paul also stressed our oneness—“If there is any consolation in Christ, . . . be of one mind” (Philippians 2:1-2). And again, “I could not speak to you as spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. . . For when one says, ‘I am of Paul’, and another, ‘I am of Apollos’, are you not carnal?” (I Corinthians 3:1-4) And again, “. . . I beseech you . . . bear with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body . . .” (Ephesians 4:1-6)
 
Jesus prayed “The Great Request” for the oneness of the Church the night before He was crucified (John 17:11, & 20-23). The Bible gives as much importance to oneness as to evangelism, which is unsurprising since both have the same result—“that the world may believe.” The oneness that Jesus prayed for is supernatural, like the oneness that He shared with the Father. If Jesus can pray to the Father for oneness, why should we not, with one voice, follow Christ’s example to ask for the same and then leave it to God to accomplish what we can’t?
 
You could be part of this effort that begins anew the oneness that will empower the Church to be the witness for which God has called us.  
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