And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth

 

 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  

 

"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

 

- John 17:12–19 

 

 In our current readings, we have just completed Jesus' Farewell Discourse, which began at the Last Supper, and continued as Jesus moved the disciples to another location.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus began what is called the High Priestly Prayer:   Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him the authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.  I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.  I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."

 

 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves."  My study bible tells us that the son of perdition (or "destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71).  Old Testament prophecy, it says, alludes to Judas (Psalm 41:9, 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13), and Judas becomes a type for all who will fall away in the last days (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, in which "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist). 

"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one."   My study bible notes here that inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  In this way, all believers attract the world's hatred.  The second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3) states, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  To be reborn in Christ, Christian citizenship is in the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), but their vocation is in the world, where they must be protected by God against the evil one.  

"Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."  To sanctify, my study bible explains, means to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  St. John Chrysostom interprets this verse as saying, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

To be holy or consecrated, to be sanctified, is to be set apart in some sense.  Therefore, if we look closely at what Jesus says in today's reading, He indicates that through the truth of God and God's word, we are set apart from the world.  St. John Chrysostom's paraphrase of Christ's words:  "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine," indicates that we are set apart through the gift of the Spirit and through an understanding of correct doctrine.  What this teaches us about is the hostility of the world to such a doctrine.  We proclaim God and the mission of Jesus Christ in a world that is going to be hostile to that mission.  John's Gospel, from the beginning, speaks of the light shining in the darkness, while the darkness does not comprehend that light (John 1:5).   The word for "comprehend" in the original Greek, means both "to understand" and "to take in," just as it does in English.  The darkness can neither overcome the light, in the sense of enfolding, engulfing, or taking it in -- nor can it understand the light.  This in itself is a clear enough explanation of why "the world" will be hostile to believers.  What can neither be understood nor overcome is frustrating to a selfish impulse for power.  Jesus has set apart His Church and His doctrine quite specifically from the power structures of the world, when He taught the disciples, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:25-28).  A defining element of Christianity, and of the Person of Jesus Christ, is a sacrificial love.  That is, a willingness to sacrifice for something greater and higher, in service to God and to humankind.  This is done in loyalty of service to God and to human beings who need God's righteousness and salvation for true fullness of life, for love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable from one another (see Matthew 22:37-40).  But to place the love of God as one's first commandment means to be set apart from the world, because a basic understanding of the constant desire for power and control is rooted in a more selfish or self-centered perspective.  To serve God is necessarily a collaborative and sacrificial way of life, to be willing to be disciplined (to be a "disciple") in a way of being and thinking that teaches something different, that organizes in principle around a deeper and broader love than the self alone.  To love God with all one's heart and soul and mind, and to love neighbor as oneself, is no longer simply to serve a self-centered impulse to power and possession.  It is to live a life of service to what is essentially good, and true, and beautiful, and it is to engage in relationship with someone much greater than oneself alone.  Indeed, our participation in the life of Christ means, ultimately, redefining the self via this participation and worship appropriate only to God.  This is salvation, and it means not only to find and place the impulse to worship where it correctly belongs, but it also means to find our own identity within that participation of love.  It is a life lived in contradiction to a rebellion against God, an ultimately destructive impulse that is centered only on a broken concept of the self.  In truth, this place where we worship is as close as the soul, as close as our breath.  It's not outside of us, but within us (Luke 17:21, John 14:23).  In today's reading, Jesus once again speaks of His joy:  "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves."   Christ's joy is in this fulfillment of "true self," if you will, the participation in the life of God appropriate to Him, and He extends that joy and its fulfillment to His followers, those who will believe in Him.  This sanctification of which He speaks comes in this truth of how we find ourselves within this communion, a life lived in love and service:  "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."   Jesus calls upon each of us to take up our own crosses (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27), but His sanctification will take place at the Cross for all.  He will meet the world at the Cross, and defeat darkness and death for all of us.   There is only one Christ, but each in our own way, we are to follow Him and find our own places in God's many mansions, the places prepared for us in love.