Who is my brother?

I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. John 17:20-21

One particularly vivid scene in the Gospel according to John is that of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden of Gethsemane was a place where a wine-press squeezed the sweet juice from the grapes. A place of solitude, this was where Jesus and the disciples could come and pray without interruption.

In the prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus focuses on the Church, His body. Jesus said: “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” He added, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” Jesus then prayed that they might be one, even as He and the Father were one.

Who is my brother? Brothers and sisters have a common parentage. In the household of faith, this means we are born again of the Spirit of God, recognizing Jesus Christ as Lord and the Savior of the world. We know that by grace through faith we have received the gift of eternal life and that it is by the grace of God that we came to Christ and were adopted into His family.

Strange yet true is the fact that when the fire of persecution burns, the shackles that have tied us to our backgrounds – and, yes, churches – are consumed, and we find a freedom to laugh, to cry, to pray, to rejoice, and to praise the Almighty in ways we have never before known.

I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.” The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings? Psalm 89:1-6