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

 

 "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.  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 17:9–19 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given the beginning of what is known as Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, found in John chapter 17.  This is Christ's prayer following His Farewell Discourse to the disciples at the Last Supper.  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 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."  My study Bible asks us to note that Christ first prayed for Himself (see yesterday's reading, above) and then for the apostles (again, see yesterday's reading above, those whom You have given Me out of the world).  After this He prays for those whom You have given Me, which includes all who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  Here, my study Bible explains, the world is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God. That is, those who prefer darkness to Christ's light.

"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."  My study Bible points out that Holy Father is echoed in the eucharistic prayer given in the Didache, the earliest teaching document of the Church.  Didache 10:2 reads, "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts."  

 

"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."  The son of perdition (or "destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71).  My study Bible says that Old Testament prophecy alludes to Judas (Psalms 41:9; 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13).  Moreover, Judas becomes a type for all who will fall away in the last days (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where "son of perdition" is a reference to the Antichrist).  

"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."  My study Bible comments that, inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  So, therefore, believers will attract the world's hatred.  In the Letter to Diognetus, written in the second century, we read, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world" (see Letter to Diognetus 6:1, 2).  As one is reborn in Christ, citizenship is of the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), but Christian vocation is in the world, where there is protection by God against 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."  To sanctify is described by my study Bible as meaning to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and to bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  It notes that St. John Chrysostom interprets this verse as saying, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

In yesterday's reading, the first part of what is called Christ's High Priestly Prayer was given to us by the lectionary.  Today's is the second reading of the prayer, and tomorrow we will read the final section of it.  In yesterday's reading, as my study Bible pointed out, Christ prayed first for Himself, and then for those whom He had been given by the Father.  Here, He continues that prayer, and we can observe His great concern for this beginning of His Church, and the ones whom He will send out into the world as seeds, so to speak, who will plant His word and found His churches in various parts of the known world.  There seems to be a great deal of delineation here, a kind of demarcation, between those who belong to the Father who have been given to Christ, and those who are of "the world" and cannot hear the word and do not respond in their hearts to the things of the Father which were given to Christ.  Jesus speaks of those who have responded to His ministry, "And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them."  In such a way, we are given to understand that the apostles glorified Christ through their own faithful lives, and that we might do the same.  He prays for those who will remain in the world, that they will be kept in God's Name, as Jesus has kept them while He was in the world.  There is a great line drawn here, in this sense, between "the world" which is under the ruler of this world  (John 12:31, John 14:30, John 16:11) and those who will carry on and be held in God's Name.  It is in this "set apart" context of the sacred that Jesus prays to the Father for those who will bear the Kingdom into the world.  Only one of them was lost (Judas), but Jesus prays of the rest, "But now I come to You and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves."  As we discussed in yesterday's commentary, we may observe through John's Gospel how both Jesus and John the Baptist speak of joy in this sense, as a product of the fulfillment of their role in God's kingdom even in this world.  And here yet again, we as believers are also invited in -- as are the disciples here by Jesus -- to also fulfill this joy of Christ in ourselves.  We are to find ourselves in Christ, and in this sense this joy may also be fulfilled in us.  Jesus sets out very carefully for us, in these words of His prayer recorded for posterity, the delineation between those who receive the word given through Christ, and "the world" that does not.  But He does not pray that those who keep His word in their hearts be taken out of the world, but remain in it.  Instead He prays only that they may be kept from "the evil one"; that is, kept from the ruler of this world, the devil.  And again, as in so much of John's Gospel, we return to themes of truth:  "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."  It is this truth that sanctifies and sets apart, but not for the purpose of separation alone -- for the purpose of bringing that which is sanctified into the world, Christ's holy truth, which is both His word and His Person given to us.  So, therefore, when we think about communion, we are to consider that it is meant to be a communion which is in this sense differentiated, set apart from what is "worldly," different from the world which does not know this truth, and does not share in the love Christ has brought to us.  John is often called the evangelist of love.  But in Matthew's Gospel,  the great warning about "end times" is a focus on love growing cold ("And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold" - Matthew 24:12).  So, in the context of Christ's prayer for the disciples, and for those who will follow, let us ponder upon the truth that we receive with love, and how important that the fire of this love not grow cold.  We, in faith, are set apart for something important, necessary for the world, a baptism of fire for the whole world brought by Christ (Luke 3:16, 12:49-53).  For those who do not love, the fire scalds and burns.  For those who receive this love in their hearts, it is a warming, invigorating fire of truth and grace which we are to live and bear into the world.  What burns and drives you forward today, kindling a spirit in which you feel joy and love?  Is there something you need to cast aside that cannot stand in that fire?  Where do you find your joy?  In the end of today's reading, Jesus gives us the fullness of His love and sacrifice for us:  "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."

 

 

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world

 

 "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 recent readings, Jesus has been speaking to the disciples at the Last Supper.  He first gave them what is known as His Farewell Discourse (beginning with this reading).  Then Jesus began what is known as the High Priestly Prayer, a prayer to God the Father, which we began reading in yesterday's reading.  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 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."  My study Bible comments that the son of perdition (which can be understood to mean "destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70, 71).  It says that Old Testament prophecy 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, where "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist).

 

"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."  Inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, my study Bible explains, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Therefore, 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."  Reborn in Christ, my study Bible says, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), yet their vocation is in the world, where they are protected by God against the evil one.  When we pray the Lord's Prayer that Christ gave us, we say, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4). 

 

"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, is to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  It notes that St. John Chrysostom interprets this verse as effectively saying, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

Jesus speaks of believers being separate from the world.  During His Farewell Discourse, He said to the disciples, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:19).  In today's reading, He prays to God the Father, "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."  What distinguishes His followers from "the world?"  He prays to the Father, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name," and, "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."  So we have an understanding of a split, a boundary, between "the world" and those who are kept in God's name, who kept in God's word.  In this way, disciples of Christ are taken "out of the world."  We can also think of this as a boundary between light and darkness, with the world being in darkness, and those who keep Christ's word walking in the light, dwelling in it, becoming "enlightened" and drawing upon that light for their identity.  This we should understand as a kind of a process, not a one-time exclamation of faith, but a path which we walk.  John's Gospel tells us from the beginning that "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:5).  The darkness is that which can neither understand, nor "take in" the light.  "Illumination" is therefore the process of receiving, living, dwelling in God's word, making this word given by Christ a part of ourselves and our lives, a deeper and growing indwelling, reflected through us.  In this way, we glorify Him and the Father who gave Him the word He taught us.  Now in today's reading, Jesus prays to the Father, "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."  Here Jesus begins to speak of sanctification.  As noted above, my study Bible describes sanctification as meaning to consecrate, make holy, separate, to set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  So sanctification, the act of making holy, is also a setting apart, a separation from the world in the sense of putting something aside as exclusively for God's purposes.  And as Jesus indicates in His words as He prays, a person is sanctified through God's truth -- and God's word is truth.  So, light, sanctification, God's word, and truth all become concepts related to this sphere of the kingdom of God, this place where we are in the world, but not of it.  If we look closely at all of these aspects of Christ's prayer, what we observe is a kind of exhortation to follow this path of sanctification in our lives, and as His disciples.  Yes, He prays to the Father, but in describing His work in the world, it is to take the disciples into the Kingdom even as they are in the world, and to set them apart in the sense that they will continue in this place of bearing the word of God, remaining in His name, and dwelling in the world as those who will be sanctified by His truth.  If we listen closely to His prayer to the Father, we conclude that this is what He desires, that we remain in the world, but as part of "His" world, the Kingdom that lives not "here or there" but "within" us and among us (Luke 17:21).  Let us know that He prays for us to be protected from "the evil one," even as we may be sanctified in His truth, set apart by it.  Let us remember this is who we are, and who we are called to be in this world, even as we seek to bear His light into it ever more deeply (Matthew 5:16).

 

 

Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are

 

 "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.  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 17:9-19 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given what is called Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed to the Father before His trial and Crucifixion.  Jesus 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 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."  My study Bible notes that Christ first prayed for Himself (verses 1-5) and secondly, for them, the apostles (verses 6-19).  Only then does He pray for those whom You have given Me -- that is, all who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  Here, my study Bible says, the world is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light.  

"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."  Holy Father is echoed in the eucharistic prayer of Didache 10:2 (the Didache the earliest known Christian teaching document):  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts."  

"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."  The son of perdition ("destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71).  Old Testament prophesy alludes to Judas, my study Bible says (Psalms 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, where "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist.

"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."  As Christ is from heaven, my study Bible explains, so those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Therefore, believers attract the world's hatred.  In the second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3), it is stated, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  To be reborn in Christ is to have citizenship in the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), yet the vocation disciples is in the world, where they are 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."  My study Bible explains that to sanctify is to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is saying, "Make them holy through the gifts of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

Jesus makes a distinction in His prayer between those who are His and the world.  My study Bible explains that "the world" is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light.  He indicates that those who come to Him, those who hear His voice, are those whom the Father first has given to Christ ("those whom You have given Me").  As we have seen consistently in John's Gospel, all things begin with the Father, including the identity of the Son, and we who hear the Son's voice.  It is the Father through whom all things begin, including our capacity to hear Christ's voice, the word of truth (Matthew 16:17).   What is extremely notable in this section of the High Priestly Prayer is Christ's clear distinction between "the world" and His followers, the faithful.  He begins by saying to God that He does not pray for the world, but for those whom the Father has given to Him, for they are the Father's.  Jesus prays, "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."  Let us note that what is of greatest importance to Christ is simply that His followers remain faithful; that they remain true to the Father and true to the word which Christ has taught.   To have been kept in the Father's name is to have been kept and held within the Kingdom, the realm of the Holy Spirit, this reality to which we respond which is planted in our hearts, for this is how the Name of God works.  It is a sense in which we belong to God, we are stamped in our hearts with God's Name.  It's important, essential, to remember that what Jesus prays for is that we remain in this condition of belonging to God.  He is not praying that we always get our wish, that we live in a mansion and have every worldly success we can think of.  Far from it.  What Christ prays for is that we are kept by God and not lost, and that we are kept from "the evil one."  That is, we are not lost to the ways of the one who opposes God, whether that be a spiritual power or a worldly manifestation of spiritual darkness, which is in opposition to God.  It is this life and this safety that Christ prays for, for us.  He prays that we not become "of the world" in the sense that we give up God's ways for the ways we see in the world that are in opposition to God.   Jesus says, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."  We must remain within God's word and God's truth; and we know God's ways from the Scripture, from the teachings of Jesus.  He says, "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."   Jesus will remain loyal within God's truth and God's way for Him all the way to the Cross, putting everything on the line, so that He might be sanctified in order to sanctify us in God's truth.  It is we who are the beneficiaries of this prayer, we who must take it seriously that we are in the world and not of it.  And this is Christ's joy, that we remain in this place of truth and sanctification, even when the world would demand a different way, of manipulation and lies, coercion in all its forms, expedience, and serving all manner of forms of selfishness over our call from God.  Let us consider the ways we need to keep alert to the temptations of the world, so that Christ keeps us for Himself, and we may have His joy fulfilled in ourselves.

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.

 

Sanctify them by Your truth

 "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.  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.  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 17:9-19

Yesterday we began to read what is called the High Priestly Prayer, which Jesus prayed at the Last Supper.  He 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 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."  My study bible points out that, first, Christ prayed for Himself (see verses 1-5 from yesterday's reading, above).  Secondly, in today's reading, Christ prays for them, the apostles.  In tomorrow's reading, in the completion of the prayer, Jesus prays for those whom You have given Me; that is, all those who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  Here, my study bible explains, the world is the portion of humanity which is in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to God's light.

"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."   The term Holy Father is echoes in the Eucharistic prayer of Didache 10:2 (the earliest teaching document of the Church):  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts."  We can read the language of the name which echoes this High Priestly Prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper. 

"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."   The son of perdition ("destruction," related to a sense of total loss) is Judas Iscariot (6:70-71).  Old Testament prophecy, my study bible tells us, 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, where "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist).

"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."   My study bible says that inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Therefore, it says, 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."  Reborn in Christ, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (3:1-5), my study bible says, but their vocation is in the world, where they are protected by God against the evil one.

"They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your 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, is to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for the use of God.  St. John Chrysostom interprets of this verse as follows:  "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

What does it mean to be sanctified?  Jesus is setting Himself apart so that we, also, His followers, will understand that it is up to us to be sanctified by the truth.  These verses are said at the Last Supper, in this High Priestly Prayer, just before He goes to His arrest and subsequent death by crucifixion, and to His Resurrection.  Jesus speaks of His own sanctification, implying that the events which are to follow will forever set Him apart through the holiness that He is about to engage through His fidelity to the Father's will.  Jesus asks that, in turn, His followers also be sanctified in the Father's truth; that is, through participation and communion in the life of God.  He is asking for the Father's hand in creating the kingdom in this world, in which we may participate through faith, and be set apart through that entire field of truth which is this realm.  It is to make us different from "the world."  My study bible defines sanctify as "to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for the use of God."  In Greek the root of this word is also the root of the word "saint."  It also means "holy."  What we encounter, then, in the sense in which Jesus is using it here in His High Priestly Prayer, is a sense in which we, as His followers, are also to be set apart for God's purposes.  We walk in our faith -- not in order to be made kings of this world and all that may imply -- but, in fact, to be like Him, to be set apart for a particular purpose.  Indeed, that purpose and that "set apart" quality is more likely to make us strange to the world rather than exalted pillars of the world.  It makes us different, but in a way that is most important.  The world, as defined by Christ here, is that life of the world that is ruled by the "prince of this world" -- the devil.  Supremely selfish, set against God and the places God calls all creatures to be, that sense of the "prince" of this world is one in which we see what ails the world:  manipulation, greed, contempt for truth, taking shortcuts in which the end justifies any means, delusion, false gods which come in seemingly endless forms, and all the things we place ahead of how we are to live our lives in this truth.   The contempt one may experience for an integrity in faith, and the results that produces in life, are simply still with us, as perhaps one may have encountered in life when standing up for something that your faith calls you to do.  It is, in fact, in my experience, quite remarkable how true the words in this Gospel remain, even living in nominally "Christian" societies and perhaps even among those who are nominally "faithful."  There are times when really living our faith means standing up to something and setting oneself apart.  Sometimes it means just moving apart from who or what we know is not conducive to our spiritual growth, the things that we have found hinder us in our journey closer to God.  At times there will be apparent in our lives changes that we need to make:  not spending so much time with people who have extremely negative things to say about us or others, not living around those whose pastime is to gossip, and perhaps more importantly, making time to be alone to pray.  In each of these circumstances, moving away from what hinders spiritual growth and the deeper practice of our faith means setting ourselves apart, even when we do so unobtrusively and without any fanfare.  We will find, frequently, that others either comment that we have changed, or possibly do not like the results of our choice.  Either way, being set apart is part of the journey of faith, even in "little ways" we think others might not notice.  While Christ's spectacular sacrifice -- once and for all of us -- may be something extraordinary, we should be prepared for the less-than-extraordinary changes we might need to make, and for the effects that can be surprising when they do tend to set us apart from what we already know that is "worldly."  As faith is an ongoing journey, let us understand that this is a deepening process, even surprising, as we can see from the Gospels.  How prepared are the disciples for what is to come to them?  And yet each -- with one exception -- will make that leap and follow, becoming themselves martyrs, outcasts, and those set apart for their faith.  How will we, in turn, follow?

Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?

Saints Joachim and Anna, parents of the Virgin Mary, 17th century, Russia

Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.  The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"  And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together; let not man separate."  They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"  He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."  His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."  But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."

- Matthew 19:1-12

On Saturday we read that, after Jesus gave a formula for mutual correction within the Church, Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  Up to seven times?"  Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.  Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.  The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'  Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.  But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'  So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.'  And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.  So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.  Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant!  I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.  Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'  And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.  So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses."

Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.  And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.  The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"  And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together; let not man separate."  They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"   My study bible tells us that the basis for the Pharisees' test of Christ regarding divorce is Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  At the time of Christ, easy divorce for men was the practice (a Jewish woman could not initiate divorce).  But this was a source of debate among the Jewish religious leadership, with the Pharisees generally agreeing with Jesus in limiting easy divorce for just any reason.   It says that the condescension of God -- God's allowance for human weakness, does not override the original principle of permanent monogamous marriage as revealed in Genesis 1; 2.  With His authority, Christ adds His own clear prohibition against divorce, in verse 6 here, and following below in verse 9.

He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."  My study bible explains that in the ancient Church, the permissible reasons for divorce were expanded to include threat to a spouse's or child's life and desertion.  In all cases, however, the Church acknowledges the spiritual tragedy of such a situation.  In other words, it is sin that abuses and breaks relationships sanctioned and made holy by God.

His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry."  But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  He who is able to accept it, let him accept it."  My study bible says that Christ steers the disciples toward an understanding of the holiness of virginity in the context of devotion to God, not as a rejection of marriage, but as a special calling for those to whom it has been given.  Eunuchs were men who had been castrated, possibly by birth defect, disease, or mutilation.  Until relatively recently historically speaking, they were frequently employed to guard women of nobility, and we might be surprised at what power they wielded in various empires.  But here, Jesus uses this term figuratively, for those who freely choose lifelong celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, devotion to the service of God.  This consecrated virginity, my study bible says, isn't to be confused with self-mutilation,  which was condemned at the First Ecumenical Council in AD 325.

If we pay close attention to Jesus' words regarding marriage, there are at least a couple of things that are very certain here.  First of all, marriage is sanctified, given within the context of God's grace and the Church.  It is a holy institution.  Taking a look at Malachi 2:13-17 (and particularly the Septuagint translation), we see that in the Old Testament as well, there is emphasis on the companionship of marriage, sanctioned by God, and the importance of understanding relationship in this context.  Verse 16 instructs men, "Do not forsake her," and the entire section on marriage likens discarding an aged wife to an act of injustice or violence.  In 1 Corinthians 7, St. Paul also speaks of marriage and in a very pragmatic sort of way, suggesting that all are awaiting the dispensation of the Kingdom, but marriage must be viewed in the context of what is truly serving God.  Let us consider that in recent readings in Matthew, Jesus has emphasized the unity of relationships in the Church, including mutual correction and forgiveness, and care of the "littlest ones," the authority the disciples will have and how they must use it to serve all -- and become like "little children" to be the true servants of the Kingdom.  All of these passages -- the teachings from Malachi, the beginnings of marriage as found in Genesis, and Jesus' words -- bear witness to the power of relationship as sacrament, within the holiness and sanctification given by God.  How do we relate to one another?  How do we love one another?  Patristic commentary on marriage frequently centers on the fact that in the Gospel of John, the first public sign performed by Christ is at a wedding (John 2:1-12).  This points to marriage as sacrament, holy and sanctioned by God.  A sacrament means that we take the things of the world, and turn them back over to God, for God's purposes.  What we have, then, in Scripture -- and especially in this passage -- is a picture of marriage within the context of God's love and the practice of that love, and marriage as companionship.  In the Eastern Church, marriage is frequently referred to as that which teaches holiness in the context of relationship, as one learns sacrifice one for the other.  Indeed, in the day to day workings of the marriage relationship, one will continually go through transformation and change, having at each stage a new way to know and to love one another.  In this sense, marriage also involves the Cross, a giving up of past expectations or desires, an acceptance of the reality of sacrifice and love, a mutual cherishing.  In this model, marriage is not a question of hierarchy and conformity, but the opposite:  a mutual complementarity with each cherishing and complementing the other, and a relationship from which that love can extend to both the blessings of children and to others, especially in the context of faith in the One who is at the true center of marriage.  Abuse, as a form of sin, kills relationships -- and thus is divorce a spiritual tragedy.  This would include desertion and abandonment.  Let us consider the ways in which marriage is beloved of God, and may be strengthened in love through prayer and rooted in God who is love.   Given in the same context are Jesus' words on virginity, sanctioned as a special consecration and calling to serve God.

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

 "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 yesterday's reading, we began to read what is known as the High Priestly Prayer.  This is the prayer Jesus prayed after giving to His disciples the Farewell Discourse at the Last Supper, before He goes to His Crucifixion.  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 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."  The son of perdition (meaning "destruction") is Judas Icariot (6:70-71).  My study bible says that Old Testament prophecy alludes to Judas (Psalms 41:9; 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13), and Judas becomes a type for all those 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 that inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  (As we are made "in the image and likeness of God" so we may grow in that image and likeness; see Genesis 1:26.)  But thereby, believers attract the world's hatred.  My study bible quotes from the second century Letter to Diognetus (6:3), which states, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  As those reborn in Christ, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (3:1-5), but our vocation is in the world, where we are protected by God against the evil one.  Note that this does not mean Christians do not face persecution, hardship, even cruelty; rather, the protection is spiritual.

"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."  To sanctify is described by my study bible as to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sacred for God's use.  It quotes St. John Chrysostom, who interprets this verse as to say, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine." 

Jesus speaks of a people who are somehow "set apart."  That is, a holy and sanctified people -- one sanctified by the truth -- who are not like the world, or the worldly.  In this we have an understanding not that we are somehow separate from the world, but rather different.  Christians are sent into the world by Christ specifically in order to be that different people, the ones who are set apart by Christ's truth, His commands, His love, and the communion of the kingdom of God.  The most important desire in Christ's prayer is that those who love Him be sanctified and kept in His truth -- and protected from the evil one.  This is a prayer for spiritual protection; that is, for the keeping of those who love Christ in that love and in His word, for the keeping of the faithful in the faith, and freed from the destructive power of evil.  We are warned many times in the Gospels that if we love Christ we will also face tribulation, persecutions.  But our protection, ultimately, is not from sad or bad things happening in life.  It is protection for our faith, to keep us in this communion of love.  Most especially, it seems to me, Christ's prayer here speaks of a commitment to be sanctified.  That is, to be distinguished and set apart through the commitment to spiritual truth, the word of God, so that even in the midst of persecutions we remain distinctively faithful.  Our love for Christ and our willingness to grow in His likeness continues, and renders us distinctly as followers of Christ.  He asks of the Father that we, as His followers, be sanctified in His truth.  And this is the power and meaning of what it is to follow Christ:  He prays for us for protection from the evil one; that is the deception and destruction of that which hates the spiritual truth of the love of God and all that this entails.  Let us remember how precious is this truth that sanctifies our souls and feeds us with God's love.  It is everything, and in it we are contained, loved, and have our being.   Outside of that is destruction, no matter what the world's delusions may feed us to the contrary.  The world has watched recently while the church of Notre Dame de Paris burned, a cathedral consecrated to and named for the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos.  Millions of French watched the flames and realized what they might be losing, in a country known for its rigorous commitment to secularism.   Let us sanctify ourselves in His truth.  It is the one thing that truly sets us apart and in the love of God.

Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are

"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.  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 17:9-19

Yesterday we began reading what is known as the High Priestly Prayer, given at the end of the Last Supper:  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 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."  My study bible points out that Jesus first prayed for Himself (see the earlier verses in the prayer, above), and secondly for them, the apostles.  Only after these does He pray for those whom You have given Me -- that is, all who will come to believe in Him.   The world (as used here) is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, my study bible explains; that is, those who prefer darkness to His light (see John 1:5).

"Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  Jesus once again expresses our communion and participation in Him and the Father, when He prays that all may be kept "through Your name."   Holy Father, my study bible says, is echoed in the eucharistic prayer of the Didache, the first teaching document of the Apostles:  "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts" (Didache 10:2).

"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."  The son of perdition ("destruction" -- implying total loss) is Judas Iscariot (6:70-71).  Old Testament prophecy alludes to Judas (Psalm 41:9; 109:2-13, Zechariah 11:12-13).  Judas becomes  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).

"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."   My study bible tells us here that inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Therefore, 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."  Those who are reborn in Christ have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (3:1-5).  But one's vocation is in the world, where they are 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 means to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who interprets this verse as saying, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine." 

What is truth?  This is the question asked by Pilate to Jesus in Tuesday's reading.   In today's reading, Jesus prays to God the Father, "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."  It's a hard-seeming concept to try to understand, but Jesus invites us into the truth in His Person, via participation in the Eucharist and thereby communion with Himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus prays, "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  To be kept in this Name is to be kept in the truth, the reality of the kingdom of God, the understanding of the love of God and how we may "live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28) in that love, in the reality of he presence of God in us and among us (Luke 17:21).  In this sense, God's Name is like a stamp on a passport, identifying the Kingdom of God to which one belongs.  Wherever we travel, we remain a citizen, and we bear the customs, the values, "the word" of which Jesus speaks.  In this sense, He asks the Father to "keep through Your name those whom You have given Me."   It is in this sense that He prays, "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."   Above all, if we read carefully, Jesus prays that all the faithful may be kept in this place, as citizens of this Kingdom, although we venture to a far country, so to speak, and be kept away from the evil one, who wishes nothing more than to draw us away from our loyalty to God, and our dwelling place in God's word and God's love.  We wish to remain, in the language of the Gospel, in His light at all times.   If Christ so prays as His fervent prayer for us to the Father, then how seriously must we take His prayer for ourselves?  Let us consider the freedom we're given to belong to this place, and to carry His love and His kingdom with us, and how precious that is.  He has asked us to share it with others, so that we may glorify in turn our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). 

As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world

 "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

Starting from last Monday, we have been reading through Jesus' farewell discourse to the disciples at the Last Supper.   Yesterday we read what is called the High Priestly Prayer:  Jesus 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 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."  Them, of course, refers to Jesus' disciples, for whom He prays.  The son of perdition (or "destruction") is Judas Iscariot (6:70-71).  Old Testament prophecy alludes to Judas, says my study bible (Psalms 41:9, 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13), and Judas becomes a type for all those who will fall away in the last days (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist).

"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."  As Christ Himself is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him, my study bible explains.  So, therefore, all believers attract the world's hatred.  The second-century Letter to Diognetus (6:3) states that "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  To be reborn in Christ means that Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (3:1-5).  However, their vocation is in the world, where they are protected by God against 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."  To sanctify, as my study bible defines for us, is to consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and to bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.   This is an essential concept of understanding that all Christians must grasp.  St. John Chrysostom interprets Jesus' words as saying, "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

What does it means to be not of the world?  Christ calls us out of the world; that is, the ways of the world.  There are a number of ways in which He does this throughout the Gospels.   In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us, for example, not to be like the hypocrites, doing things for show, a practiced "goodness" or feigned holiness that is designed merely to impress other people and done without a love of God in the heart, an acute awareness of the presence of God.  He calls us not to serve material life, to live merely for material goals.  He powerfully exhorts us not to be consumed with worry and anxiety (see Matthew 6).  But far beyond this, our participation in the love of God, in the grace of the Holy Trinity which is at work in us, calls us to holiness, to a life that manifests something different from what we find in the world.  In John's Gospel, in this farewell discourse through which we've just read, Jesus calls us to a kind of joy and a kind of peace that are not of the world, but of this holiness about which He speaks.  We are to abide in Him, and as we do so, we dwell also in the love of the Father and the Holy Spirit.  It is this life of participation in that love that brings us into a place where that love grows in us, and we serve this purpose.  When Jesus is called to name the greatest commandment, He names two of them.  The first, He says is to love God with all one's heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).  The second is like it, to love neighbor as oneself (Mark 12:31).  There are those who would emphasize only the second, forgetting the first, but to do so is forget the words of Christ.  It is through the love of God and participation in those energies that we are drawn to grow in knowledge and understanding of what love is and does, for this is where love originates.  It is inseparable from holiness, from learning and growing in God's energies in which we are invited to dwell and participate.  A faith that does not share in this mystical reality may become lost in its own ends and rules and definitions of what is good -- and fail to grow and live in the grace of God.   Jesus promises us a participation in love, and it is in love that we are taught to grow and to be transformed, a mystical reality of participation in the kingdom of God.  It is through this mystical reality that we bring these energies into the world, growing and shaping what we understand of love.  Through this we are on a path, a way -- not just a fixed set of rules with no mercy to them, no matter how modern the rules may seem to be.  It is this truth into which He leads us, this kind of holiness.  This is the goal to which He calls us in our lives, the focus.  Without it we lose His true gift.

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is 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

Yesterday, we began reading what is often called the High Priestly Prayer, which Jesus prayed to the Father at the Last Supper:  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 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." Today, our reading continues the prayer.

"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."  The son of perdition (or "destruction") is Judas Iscariot (6:70-71).  My study bible tells us that Old Testament prophecy alludes to Judas (Psalm 41:9; 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13).  Judas becomes a "type" for all who will fall away in the last days (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where "son of perdition" refers to the Antichrist).

"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."  My study bible says, "Inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, those who are joined to Him become like Him.  Thus, 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.'  Reborn in Christ, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (3:1-5), yet their vocation is in the world, where they are 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, is to consecrate, to make holy, to 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 the correct doctrine."

Two words stand out for me in today's reading, at first glance.  They are "Joy" and "Truth."  Again, we note that these are words and themes already introduced in John's Gospel.  In recent readings, Jesus has told the disciples, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full" and "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full"  (15:11; 16:24).   Interestingly, John the Baptist referred to this fullness of joy, even as his own ministry would decrease:  "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled" (3:29).    John's First Epistle also uses the language of the fullness of joy:  "These things we write, that our joy may be complete"  (1 John 1:4).  Joy is linked to truth in each of these statements, because it is in the fullness of truth that there is joy.  These statements (and the joy) are given by Jesus to the disciples even as He is about to go to the Cross.  John the Baptist's joy is fulfilled as Jesus' ministry begins, even as John's ministry will be eclipsed by the presence of Christ, and he will be put in prison and killed by Herod Antipas.  In the Epistle of John, it's the truth of the things of Christ that completes "our" joy.  It is in the fullness of this truth that our joy takes fullness.  It's in the truth of the word of God.  And Jesus tells us that this truth is also sanctifying.  It sets us apart, takes us out of the world, reserves us for a purpose, so that we bear this Kingdom into the world as it dwells in us and among us.  It has a hallowed function and a purpose and it hallows our work of faith as we reflect it in the world.  The fullness of truth, therefore, contains all of these things:  it sanctifies and sets us in a place where we have a mission, it places us in the Kingdom, it fills us with a kind of fullness of joy, and it is the word of God.  Thereby joy and truth become inextricably linked with one another in the fullness of "God's breath" working in our lives.  Let us keep in mind that the word for Spirit means also means "breath."  In the Armenian Apostolic tradition, the Bible is called "the Breath of God."  In the fullness of the Word is breath, joy, truth.  It's the Word that sanctifies, a breath that takes us to places we don't know about, to a fullness of joy, an acceptance of what is, a Kingdom that works in us, and that we share for a holy purpose into the world.  God's breath breathes in us and makes us a part of something, giving us a fullness that is missing without it.  Jesus prays here that we might be so sanctified, and gives us His peace and joy.  Let us remember that we are only sanctified by the truth, and that it must rest in us.  We don't flinch from the reality of the world, even as we understand the life of God.