²¹ “… that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Eavesdropping on someone’s self-talk can be fascinating. Movies reveal what a character is thinking by using a voice-over in the background. In the Upper Room, though, we don’t have self-talk, but the communication between two members of the Trinity. Yet this stretches our imagination to have some framework for understanding what is going on here. Or to put the issue in the form of a question, “If Jesus is God, then to whom is He talking?”

Nothing can be more certain than that the Christian faith is monotheistic. We believe the Scripture which says, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut 6:4) and “Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me” (Is 43:10b–11). Yet Jesus, as the Son of God, is somehow distinct from God the Father. Other religions may see a contradiction, but that is not the case. Historically, theologians have termed it this way, there is one and only one God, who exists in three persons. There are not three gods, but one God. There is not one person, yet three persons. But, three persons as one God is not a logical contradiction. A conundrum, to be sure, but not a fallacy.

But does this not stretch credulity past what is logically reasonable? To some, earthbound and finitely limited as they are, maybe yes. But one thing makes absolute sense. For God to become a man (what we call incarnation, and it is entirely possible for God to do so, since He is God after all) would involve an intersection of the infinite and the finite. It should be expected that at the point of that intersection there would be some things not understandable to us mere humans. To even begin to comprehend such a cosmic event would require help from the other side, that is, the divine side, since our limited non-divine intellect and understanding is considerably limited compared to the infinite.

At the incarnation, where God became a man, we are called upon to believe the revelation of God. Scripture presents Jesus as God, talking with His “Father,” as here in the Upper Room. This is more than “self-talk.” This is God talking “among” Himself, as represented to us as Son with Father. And unity is uppermost in Jesus’ mind, a unity in the Godhead that is unbroken, perfect, in complete harmony, knit together inseparably. In human relationships, with our fallen nature, this kind of unity seems impossible. But, with God it is perfect. And Jesus wants us followers to have that kind of unity.

Lord, help me do whatever is necessary to be at one with my fellow Christians, even those with whom I disagree.