“That They May Be One, Even as We Are One”
John 17:4, 8, 18, 22
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. . . .
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. . . .
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. . . .
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one . . .
Elder Robert D. Hales said:
“It is very enlightening and touching to me to consider how Jesus talks to His Father. In His great Intercessory Prayer, which is found in the Bible in the book of John, it is unmistakably clear that Jesus acknowledges He is the Son. Listen to His words as He reports the obedient completion of His earthly mission to His Father in Heaven:
“‘I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. . . .
“‘For I have given unto them [the disciples] the words which thou gavest me . . . , and they have believed that thou didst send me. . . .
“‘As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. . . .
“‘And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one’ [John 17:4, 8, 18, 22].
“Through the course of the Savior’s ministry, the disciples did indeed become one but not in their physical bodies. They became one in unity of purpose and love. This is the oneness of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, spoken of in the scriptures. They too are distinct beings, but They are united in purpose, in Their love for us, and in the work They are doing on our behalf.”
(“Gaining a Testimony of God the Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2008, 31.)
