Part II of this article Part I Summary
Imagine a body—broken, fragmented, its parts scattered across a vast landscape. Once whole, its pieces no longer move or live as one. This image captures the Church in its current state: fractured and divided, a body meant to reveal Christ but now marred by disunity.
When Jesus prayed that His people would be one (John 17), what kind of unity did He mean? What role does the Eucharist play in fostering that unity? In light of our disunity, can this prayer be taken seriously any more?
These questions strike at the heart of the Church’s identity and mission. While Scripture and tradition (e.g., John 17, Ephesians 4, the Nicene Creed, etc.) clearly expose the urgent need to reclaim the oneness Christ intended, something is profoundly amiss in our apathy and complacency toward division. I happen to agree with Bruce Marshall, who calls our division the most pressing problem of today’s church (Theology Today, 50.1:78–89). Why?
The Stakes
The unity Christ prayed for in John 17 is not an abstract ideal or mere bond of affection. It is a lived reality with profound implications for the Church’s mission and credibility. As Jesus prayed, “[I ask] that they may all be one . . . so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21, ESV). Unity, then, is not just an internal or spiritual condition; it is the foundation of the Church’s witness to the world. The stakes could not be higher, as the Church’s visible unity directly correlates with its ability to reveal Christ to a watching world.
In other words, successful evangelism depends upon the unity of Christ’s followers, and the more deeply one probes our deeply divided ecclesiastical situation in light of the mystery of unity in Christ, the greater the incoherence becomes, eating at the integrity of the Gospel like cancer. How many churches act as though oblivious to these stakes? How many have conceptions of unity that are vague or entirely missing?
What Does This Type of Unity Look Like?
Jean-Marie Tillard offers a compelling starting point for understanding the nature of Christian unity as described in John 17. He emphasizes its tangible and relational dimensions, writing:
“Chapter seventeen of John’s gospel—which speaks, not of having koinonia but of being one hen einai—must in this perspective, be considered as the major revealed text about the inner depth of the communion which is the Church of God . . .. This unity does not consist simply of a bond of love among the disciples of Christ Jesus, even less of a solidarity that rests on the fidelity of all to the teachings of the Master . . . it is a question of a very concrete communion” (Church of Churches, 51).
This “very concrete communion” stands in stark contrast to abstract, vague, or sentimental notions of unity. It is tangible, visible, and lived—a reality the world can perceive and that reflects the Church’s calling to mirror the divine life. Such unity, tied directly to the Church’s credibility and witness, is not static or one-dimensional but rich and multifaceted, with discernible features. Its defining features–visibility, Trinitarian sourced and shaped, Eucharistic centrality, and active participation—not only characterize the oneness Christ prayed for but also offer a blueprint for how the Church can embody and sustain this unity in the world.
Visible: “so that the world may believe”
The unity Christ prays for in John 17 is not merely abstract or internal but concrete and perceptible. As Tillard emphasizes, this is a “very concrete communion”—not simply a bond of love or shared fidelity but a tangible reality reflecting the Church’s essence. Such unity is tied directly to the Church’s witness to the world. “The Church’s unity cannot be accessible only to believers . . . but must lie open to the apprehension of all, outside the church as well as within” (Marshall, 79).
If something invisible were in view, the world could neither see it nor know that Christ was sent by God (John 17:21). Thus, the Church’s unity must be public, visible, and lived, bearing directly on the credibility of the Gospel.
Trinitarian: “just as”
This visible, concrete unity is not merely modeled on the Trinity; it reflects the Church’s deepest identity, one that flows from the unity rooted in the life and love of the Father, Son, and Spirit. This divine unity is both intimate and participatory. Jesus’ prayer, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you” (John 17:21), reveals a dynamic and relational oneness that mirrors the divine life. As Tillard observes, John’s use of καθώς (translated as “just as”) implies more than analogy—it suggests a causal relationship between the oneness of the Trinity and the oneness of the Church (Church of Churches, 51). Just as the Father, Son, and Spirit fully share in one another’s essence and acts, so too does the Church’s dynamic, relational, and visibly embodied unity require mutual and active participation in its sacramental and communal life.
Eucharistic and Reciprocal
Nowhere is this visible, mutual, and active participation more profoundly expressed than in the Eucharist, where Christ offers His sacramental body to His mystical body, the Church. It serves as both the source and summit of the Church’s unity, manifesting and sustaining the intimate, participatory communion modeled by the Trinity.
Just as the oneness of the Father, Son, and Spirit encompasses the fullness of deity, so too must the Church’s unity encompass the fullness of humanity—a physical, tangible body. Within this unity, two interconnected senses emerge: Christ’s mystical body, which is the Church, and Christ’s sacramental body, present in the Eucharist. The former embodies the Scriptural imagery of the Church as Christ’s body, while the latter manifests and sustains the unity of that mystical body through participation in the Eucharist. The Eucharist becomes, in a sense, a microcosm of Trinitarian communion, embodying both unity and mutual self-gift.
These tangible realities manifest and communicate invisible truths in ways that are deeply reciprocal and recursive. The Eucharist offers Christ’s physical body to his mystical body, uniting the two in an act that incorporates and transforms. To eat is, quite literally, to take the essence of what is eaten into one’s very self. Since the bread and wine truly become the incarnate Jesus—an intimate union of the human with the divine—the act of eating incorporates what is eaten into one’s very being, making the Eucharist a profoundly fitting means of bringing about the union of humanity with divinity. Thus, when believers partake of Christ’s sacramental body, they are drawn into the profound mystery of the union between humanity and divinity.
In this act, Christ achieves that union by communicating himself to his mystical body—the Church—through both the tangible elements of the Eucharist and the shared life of believers as a physical manifestation of that mystical body. As the Church consumes Christ’s sacramental body, it is drawn closer into his divine life. The act of eating binds the mystical body to Christ in a union that is at once physical, spiritual, and communal, bringing the Church ever closer to the fullness of its identity in him.
Participatory: “is the bread that we break not a participation in the body of Christ?”
The participatory nature of unity ties directly to the Eucharist’s role in drawing believers into a shared life with Christ and one another. It demonstrates that unity is not merely symbolic or theoretical but an active engagement in the life and mission of Christ.
Paul underscores this connection when he writes, “The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:16-17, ESV). This participation is both a declaration and a realization of the Church’s oneness in Christ. Through the Eucharist, believers are actively drawn into the unity of Christ’s body, forming a visible and tangible expression of their shared faith and identity.
This shared participation in the Eucharist corresponds to the one worldwide body of Christ, a truth Paul routinely emphasized with his churches (cf. Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 4:4; Col. 3:15). Since there is one Church, represented as Christ’s one body, uniting that one worldwide body in one visible Church through shared Eucharistic participation is not merely a start but the very essence of Christian unity. As the Nicene Creed affirms, the Church is “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.”
In the Eucharist, the Church’s unity is both signified and realized. It calls believers to embody their oneness through visible fellowship, doctrinal agreement, and shared sacramental life. This participatory dimension ensures that the unity Christ prayed for is not just a theological claim but a lived reality, sustained by the very sacrament that creates and deepens it.
Two Poles of Unity: The Sacramental Mechanics of 1 Corinthians 10:17
The Christian conception of unity is dynamic and multifaceted, encompassing two vital dimensions or poles. On one hand, it celebrates an already accomplished reality (positional unity); on the other, it issues a profound call to pursue greater depths (progressive unity). As the sacrament of unity, the Eucharist embodies this dual nature, and Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 10:17 captures these dimensions with striking clarity:
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
This verse encapsulates the dual nature of Eucharistic unity: it reflects the Church’s existing oneness while also serving as the means by which that oneness is achieved and deepened. A closer examination of Paul’s language reveals the profound mechanics behind this relationship and their implications for the Church’s sacramental life.
Paul uses two causal statements in this verse, framing the assertion that “we who are many are one body.” The first causal clause is: “Because there is one bread.” The second is: “For we all partake of the one bread.” Together, these clauses establish two dimensions of Eucharistic unity. What are they, and how do they relate to one another?
The characteristics of the positional and progressive poles of unity are summarized as follows:
| Aspect of Unity | Positional Unity | Progressive Unity |
| Nature | Gift of grace, established by baptism | Mission, deepened through Eucharistic participation |
| Timeframe | Already | Not yet |
| Emphasis | Being | Becoming |
| Role of Eucharist | Reflects and presupposes this unity | Creates and strengthens this unity |
| Visibility | Theological reality | Tangible and visible in the Church’s life |
| Biblical Basis | 1 Corinthians 12:13; John 17:21 | 1 Corinthians 10:17; John 15:4-5 |
Unity Through the One Bread: A Positional Unity More Than Baptism
The first causal clause in Paul’s teaching—“because there is one bread”—points to the positional unity all believers share in Christ, established through His incarnation, death, and resurrection and mediated through baptism. While baptism initiates believers into the body of Christ, it does not exhaust the requirements for Eucharistic participation. The positional unity necessary for the Eucharist includes baptism but extends to visible and tangible markers of ecclesial unity.
Paul’s rebuke of the Corinthians underscores this truth. Although they shared a common baptism, their divisions undermined the integrity of their Eucharistic gatherings, prompting his reproof: “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat” (1 Corinthians 11:20, ESV). Their factionalism rendered their participation incoherent, proclaiming a unity that did not truly exist. Paul’s admonition to “discern the body” (1 Corinthians 11:29) demonstrates that Eucharistic participation requires more than spiritual unity; it presupposes a visible, ecclesiastical unity–manifested through shared doctrine, mutual recognition of authority, and shared participation in the Church’s liturgical and sacramental life, which tangibly expresses the unity of Christ’s body.
This positional unity, then, is not automatic or inviolable. Baptism introduces believers into the body of Christ, but it does not ensure ongoing visible communion among them. Concrete markers of unity—doctrinal agreement, ecclesiastical fellowship, and mutual submission to the Church’s authority—are indispensable for the Eucharist to reflect and sustain the oneness of Christ’s body.
Paul’s warnings about unworthy participation further reinforce the necessity of positional unity for valid Eucharistic participation. He writes, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27, ESV). For the Corinthians, their disunity transformed what should have been a source of grace into a source of judgment. Visible and lived unity, therefore, is foundational to the Eucharist’s purpose and meaning as the sacrament of unity. Without this unity, the Eucharist fails to fulfill its dual role of reflecting and deepening the oneness of Christ’s body.
Unity Through Participation: Progressive Unity
The second causal clause—“for we all partake of the one bread”—shifts the focus to the progressive aspect of unity. While the “one bread” signifies the Church’s positional unity in Christ, this unity is realized and deepened through participation in the Eucharist. By partaking of the one bread, believers are not only reminded of their oneness but also drawn into a deeper communion with Christ and with one another. This act of partaking is transformative, forging a tangible expression of the unity that Christ has established.
The Interplay Between the Two Clauses
Paul’s use of these dual causal statements reflects the reciprocal nature of Eucharistic unity. The Church is one because it shares in Christ’s body, and this oneness is made manifest and strengthened through the Eucharist. The two clauses are not redundant but mutually reinforcing, emphasizing both the gift of unity and the mission to embody it.
This reciprocal relationship between unity and the Eucharist aligns with the broader biblical witness. John 17 emphasizes that the Church’s unity flows from its participation in the divine life: “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one” (John 17:23). Similarly, the vine-and-branches imagery in John 15 underscores the ongoing effort required to abide in Christ and bear fruit. The Eucharist encapsulates these themes, providing the means by which the Church is nourished and sustained in its unity.
This dynamic challenges a purely symbolic understanding of the Eucharist. Paul’s teaching suggests that the Eucharist is not merely a declaration of unity but also a means of achieving it.
Exploring the Poles: Positional and Progressive Aspects of the Eucharist
As the introduction into oneness that believers share by virtue of their baptism, positional unity was never meant to be bifurcated into visible and invisible realities. Unity must be visibly and invisibly expressed in the life of the Church. A positional unity that is in reality only a bifurcated form capitulating to a divided state provides a poor starting point. These lesser forms neglect necessary markers like shared doctrine, sacramental participation, and ecclesiastical agreement. Without a full form of positional unity in place, participation in the Eucharist risks becoming a hollow act that proclaims a unity that does not, in fact, exist.
The progressive aspect of the Eucharist links the unity of believers to their shared participation in the one bread. By partaking, believers are drawn into deeper communion, making their unity increasingly visible and concrete.
This dual emphasis (see Appendix) helps explain why the Eucharist cannot be separated from visible and doctrinal agreement nor reduced to a mere symbol. The Eucharist is not merely an outward sign of an inward reality but a sacrament that effects what it signifies. Therefore, if it is to achieve a concrete and tangible unity coming out, it must signify a concrete and tangible unity going in. This sacramental reality demands careful discernment and preparation, as Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29. Participation in the Eucharist without discerning the body—both Christ’s sacramental body and the Church as His body—risks judgment rather than grace. This warning underscores the necessity of a discernible, ecclesiastical unity as a precondition for Eucharistic participation.
The two forms of unity embodied by Eucharistic practice remind us that unity is both a gift and a mission, revealing the dynamic interplay between positional and progressive unity. Without this interplay, the Church’s unity would remain incomplete, a theological claim without practical manifestation. In other words, these two poles—the already and the not-yet—are not merely theological abstractions but are central to understanding the Eucharist’s role in the Church’s life.
Critically, the inherent nature and relationship between positional and progressive unity in the Eucharist challenges the Church to address its divisions. These poles work in tandem. The positional pole demands recognition of two realities–the positional unity all believers share by virtue of a common baptism alongside an apparent, concrete dividedness that was never meant to be part of it. That tragic dissonance might be ignored if not for the simultaneous and continual call of the progressive pole, which occurs with every Eucharist, to embody and deepen that unity in shared ecclesiastical life.
So it is that conscientious believers exist in an uncomfortable tension between these two poles, their discomfort ideally galvanizing into the urge to overcome the reasons for disunity and come into a shared Eucharistic fellowship. The Eucharist calls believers to examine their own contributions to disunity and to work toward the reconciliation necessary for full communion. It is not enough to proclaim the Church’s oneness in Christ; that oneness must be made visible in the shared life of the Church.
The Unity Christ Prayed For
The unity for which Christ prayed is not a vague ideal or a static given but a dynamic, participatory reality rooted in the life of the Trinity. Its texture is visible, Eucharistic, and communal, mirroring the richness of intra-Trinitarian relations. Just as the Father, Son, and Spirit fully participate in the essence and acts of one another, so too does the unity of Christ’s body require mutual and active participation, embodying a unity that is tangible and lived, sustained through shared participation in the Eucharist.
This unity is far from static, uniform, or dull. A far more fitting image is that of harmony: a multiplicity of voices interweaving in a beautiful and dynamic exchange. This harmony is not a mere sum of static parts but a living, active collaboration, where each voice responds to the others, adjusting and contributing to a shared purpose. It is an ongoing act of creation. Each participant is attuned to the rhythm and flow of the whole, working together toward a shared musical tapestry. In this way, unity is not uniformity but the vibrant interplay of diversity participating in a single, resonant whole. Music itself offers us a concrete taste of this concept, a vivid picture of Christian unity as it was meant to be–not merely a structure but an act.
The Eucharist is the sacramental embodiment of this harmony, calling the Church to live out its oneness in Christ. It simultaneously reflects the positional unity believers share by virtue of their baptism and deepens that unity through ongoing participation. By holding together these two poles of unity—the already and the not-yet—the Eucharist offers both a gift to be received and a mission to be pursued.
Far from a mere ritual, the Eucharist is an embodied call to reconciliation and full communion, compelling the Church to confront the gap between the Church’s current divided state and its theological identity as the one body of Christ. It challenges believers to address the divisions that hinder the Church’s mission, starting with an examination of their own contributions. It also calls them to work toward this specific texture of Christian unity.
Imagine the fractured body of Christ healed, its parts knit together into a visible, living whole. This is the hope and promise of the Eucharist. The unity it signifies and creates is not only the fulfillment of Christ’s prayer but also the Church’s greatest witness to the world.
The Eucharist calls the Church to embody the unity for which Christ prayed, confronting its divisions and embracing its mission as one body. May we, as His people, respond with a renewed commitment to this sacramental call, becoming the visible sign of Christ’s love and oneness to a watching world.
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