I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one

 

 "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 Christ's High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed at the termination of the Last Supper, just prior to going to His arrest.  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 Christ first prayed for Himself (verses 1-5), and second for them, the apostles (verses 6-19).   Only then He begins to pray for those whom You have given Me -- that is, all those who will come to believe in Him (verses 20-26).  Here the world is the way that He references the portion of humanity in rebellion against God; that is, in the words of my study Bible, those who prefer darkness to His light (John 3:19).  

 

 "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. "  My study Bible notes that Holy Father is echoed in the eucharistic prayer of Didache 10:2, which reads, "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your holy name which You have made to dwell in our hearts."   The Didache is the earliest known Christian teaching document, said to be the teaching of the apostles.  

 

"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 (perdition meaning "destruction") is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71).  Old Testament prophecy also alludes to Judas (Psalm 41:9, 109:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13), and Judas become 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.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."  My study Bible notes that, inasmuch as Christ is from heaven, so those who are joined to Him become like Him.  So, therefore, all believers attract the world's hatred.  The Letter to Diognetus (6:3), written in the second century, states, "Christians dwell in the world but do not belong to the world."  My study Bible comments that, reborn in Christ, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-5), but 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 is to consecrate, to make holy.  It also means to make separate and set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use.  My study Bible quotes St. John Chrysostom's interpretation of Christ's words here:  "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine."

 

Jesus prays to the Father regarding His apostles, "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."   Perhaps a century later, in the Letter to Diognetus (cited by my study Bible; see above), a faithful Christian explains to a pagan of the time, "In a word, what the soul is in a body, this the Christians are in the world. The soul is spread through all the members of the body, and Christians through the diverse cities of the world. The soul hath its abode in the body, and yet it is not of the body. So Christians have their abode in the world, and yet they are not of the world.  The soul which is invisible is guarded in the body which is visible: so Christians are recognized as being in the world, and yet their religion remains invisible."  We Christians remain in this "body" as explained by the letter-writer, whom we now do not know.  But it is St. Paul who writes of the great communion of the saints, which helps us to further understand this "body" that truly makes up the Church.  In chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul cites faithful believers from the Old Testament.  He enters this subject with these words that speak of things visible and invisible, "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible" (Hebrews 11:3), and the rest of the chapter names many examples of the faithful.  In chapter 12 he concludes, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1-2).  St. Paul's "great cloud of witnesses" remains the body of the Church, as referenced by the writer of the letter to Diognetus.  So we still form this body in the world, but not of it.  This is the body of those who continue in faith to the word given to Christ, and passed on to us through the apostles and their successors.  But how many of us today understand this "invisible" nature of the body of Christ, even as we remain very much in the world through the design of our Lord, as He indicates in His prayer?  Do we still have our important sense of being in the world, but not of it?  That we are a part of an invisible Kingdom, which doesn't work in the same ways the world does?  This understanding, so essential to Christ as evident in His prayer, and to the early Church in accordance with the history and documents we know, remains something intrinsic to our faith.  For we must remember Christ's words in prayer to the Father, He does not ask that His faithful followers be taken out of the world, but that God the Father keep them from the evil one.  Do we still have a sense of our difference from "the world?"  Do we understand our need to be kept "from the evil one?"  Let us ponder Christ's words, for these remain an essential part of who we are and what we step into when we enter into His faith, and seek to grow in His kingdom.  This perspective doesn't limit us, but it is the light by which we see and find our way in the world, His way.

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).

 

 

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.

 

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.