The Jewish leaders interpreted the Messianic prophecies according to their selfish ambitions, ignoring the suffering Messiah foreseen in Isaiah chapter 53, and applying the glory of the second coming of Christ to His first appearance as the Saviour from sin.

This wrong vision affected the understanding of Christ’s disciples, and they, too, expected that the Messiah would defeat the Roman Empire and put Israel as the head of the nations on earth. They dreamed about getting a high position in the expected kingdom, and their wrong interpretation of prophecy led them to strive among themselves about who would be the greatest in the coming kingdom.

It took time to correct this understanding, and even when Christ was about to ascend to heaven, they presented Him their question: “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6.

Their dispute about the first place in the kingdom caused a lot of suffering to Jesus. Thursday evening, before being arrested by His enemies, Christ offered a special intercessory prayer in behalf of His disciples: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. . . . I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou has loved me.” John 17:21, 23.

Christ has the same intense desire for unity among His people today. In spite of our different personalities and characteristics, if we surrender our life to Christ, the Holy Spirit will guide us into perfect unity.

Only when we reach this blessed state can we reveal God’s character to the world, and the world can understand that God sent His Son to save human beings.

When Christ died on the cross of Calvary, He made ample provision for the reconciliation between the world and God, and between all human beings. He is still working and waiting for the complete unity of His church.

Our acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice will promote harmony between us and God and between us and our brethren.

In John 15, Christ repeated the expression, “Love one another.” “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” John 15:12. This commandment was new to His disciples and is also new to us. It is not enough to love one another. We need to love “as I [Christ] have loved you.”

God’s work in this world cannot be finished without the demonstration of love in the life of His children on earth. We are told that “when the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.”1

God is love. His character is one of perfect love. When we make complete surrender of our life to Christ, the Holy Spirit sheds His love abroad in our heart. This is what we need in order to reach perfect unity with Christ and with one another. God is anxious to see His character of love reflected in His people so that Christ can come and to take us home.

This is His supreme goal for His people today as it was regarding His disciples when He was fulfilling His mission on earth. May the Lord help us to reach this blessed condition! Then He will come to take us home.