Or, Jesus Prays for Holy Witnesses in the World
Scripture: John 17:17-19
Date: April 6, 2014
Speaker: Sean Higgins
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No being in the universe defines holiness more clearly, or cares about holiness more fiercely, than God. God is holy, holy, holy. When Jesus began to petition His Father on behalf of His disciples, He addressed Him as “Holy Father.” We worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness and, as He is holy, He calls His people to be holy.
We come to the second petition of Jesus in His priestly prayer recorded in John 17. Last week we observed His prayer for our protection (verses 11-16). He asked that the Father keep us for the sake of unity, and that He keeps us here to do it rather than take us to heaven. Even though the world hates and the evil one assaults, Jesus desired (and still desires) divine unity on earth among His disciples.
He also desires their holiness. In verses 17-19 we’ll see Him petition the Father to sanctify His men, to make them holy. He explains the realm, the venue, and the purchase of our sanctification.
Before we get to that, though, consider again that our holiness would be much more secure, much more appreciated, and much more perfect in heaven. In heaven we will not be tempted, we will not be mocked, we will not be limited as we are here and now. Even with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, we still wonder who will deliver us from this wretched body of sin, from the appeal of the world, and from the rule of the evil one? Why not evacuate us posthaste? Why would God write a salvation story with so much struggle? Why not skip sanctification altogether and take us from new birth to paradise? It’s at least because the Trinity has a reason for us to stay.
As Jesus prays for the first eleven disciples (with application for all us disciples) we see three components to Jesus’ petition for sanctification.
Jesus asks the Father to make His men holy and He understands where that happens.
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17, ESV)
Not only does Jesus desire for Father to keep His disciples, He also desires for the Father to sanctify them . When the verb sanctify takes the form of an adjective we know it as “holy,” and when it is a noun we translate it as “saints,” the holy ones, the sanctified ones. The concept was inescapable in Jewish life and worship. Only some vessels were sanctified for use in the temple. Only some animals were set apart for sacrifice. Only some persons were holy, reserved for serving God. To be sanctified has both a moral quality and a component of dedication for use.
Jesus prays that His Father would continue to transform the nature of the disciples, even though He could say that they were no longer of the world. They were regenerated, they were in the light, they had eternal life and they could still use more work.
That work would be done in the truth . As they would be kept “in your name” (verse 11), so they would be sanctified in the realm of the truth. As they lived within the protective domain of the Trinity, so also they were being made holy within the domain of truth.
The disciples heard Jesus say much about truth already. They knew that “grace and truth came through Jesus” (John 1:17). They heard that “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (8:31-32). They heard, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6). They heard, “I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth” (15:26) and that “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (16:13). And they just heard Him pray, “they have received [the words] and have come to know in truth that I came from you” (17:8).
The sanctifying process belongs in the territory of truth and that territory is ruled by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It also belongs with the revelation They give, seen especially in Scripture. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth .
Most interesting is that Jesus does more than describe what kind of word it is. He does not say the word is true, compared to false. He says it is truth , the noun, with substance. God’s Word is accurate revelation, pure, and solid.
At the moment when Jesus prays, what word did the disciples have? They only had (what we refer to as) the Old Testament. The disciples would author more inspired truth and we have the fruit of the Spirit’s work through them in the New Testament. But learning about holiness, being transformed by the renewing of our minds, being equipped or every good work belongs just as much to the Old Testament writings.
Note two additional concerns before considering the next part of the prayer. Those who do not love the truth usually do not love sanctification. Not many Christians or groups of Christians strive to be more holy apart from striving to know more of the Bible, more theology. They may be attracted to religious tradition, experience, emotion, activities, but not holiness. Jesus does not pray for sanctification by seance or by impression. Just as we won’t learn to speak a language by living in a kingdom of mimes, we won’t learn holiness unless we live in the kingdom of Scripture.
That said, while it usually doesn’t happen that men love sanctification without loving the truth, it too often happens that men love truth without loving sanctification. True sanctification won’t take place without truth. Without sanctification, true truth is not in place. It is a temptation to those who drive on our side of the doctrine road to equate more knowledge with more miles of maturity. But knowing how to read the map doesn’t mean you’ve taken any steps. While we won’t live like Christ apart from the Word, the Word will come out in more than words.
Jesus compares His mission with His commission, and puts the realm of sanctification inside the stage for sanctification.
As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. (John 17:18, ESV)
Verse 18 is easy enough to understand on its own. The comparison stands on two legs of similarity: both Jesus and His disciples were sent and both were sent into the world.
We’ve known at least since 4:34 that Jesus claimed to be sent by His Father. He did not come on His own initiative. When He responded to Jews who were about to stone Him He described Himself as “him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world” (10:36). As you sent me into the world reminds us of His incarnation when the Word became flesh. As His Father sent, so I have sent them into the world . The disciples are not God in flesh, so they are not incarnated like Jesus. But they are not useful disembodied either.
Though they are not of the world, the world is where they are sent. They were from it and in some way are going back into it. They are sent into hostile territory, and “world” implies that they are sent outside Jewish borders. This is the first time in John’s Gospel where the disciples are described as being sent (ἀποστέλλειν) and this is why they are named “apostles” because ἀπόστολος refers to a “sent one.”
What may be less obvious is what verse 18 is doing between verses 17 and 19. Verse 17 is the petition for sanctification in truth. Verse 19 repeats the goal of being sanctified in truth as part of Jesus’ work, not just His Father’s. But verse 18 doesn’t say anything about sanctification or truth. Or does it?
Sure it does. The increasing holiness is part of their witness in the world. Just as divine unity among us will prove a point (verses 21 and 23), so divine holiness in us does as well. The world benefits from seeing the strange creatures who are no longer of the world but who are not taken out of the world. Sanctification is not as much about distance from sin but a distaste for sin. Jesus wants us to stay in a world of eating and to eat true food.
Yes, that is a battle. And the battle for sanctification is not separate from our evangelism. Our unity manifests the name of God, so does our sanctification. When God’s name is manifested, men start living.
What a baton has been handed to the disciples.
Jesus did not come to die on the cross only to pay the penalty for our sin.
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:19, ESV)
On one hand sanctification is a work of the Father. That’s why Jesus prays to His Father to do it. On the other hand, sanctification is a work of the Spirit. The Spirit reveals truth, the Spirit inspired truth to be written and illumines the Word, and the Spirit guides into truth. And on the other (third) hand, sanctification is a work of the Son.
When Jesus said, I consecrate myself , the word consecrate is the same word as “sanctify.” He wanted ἁγίασον and He Himself ἁγιάζω, from which the first form comes. In Jesus’ case, He was perfect in righteousness already. But there was a way in which He dedicated Himself for the purpose of sacrifice. He came to lay down His life for His sheep. That was His mission.
Note that He says, for their sake . He prayed for the given-ones and He sacrificed for the given-ones, not for the world. As a priest worked on behalf of a particular people, so does Jesus. He was about to die for them the next day.
For Jesus holiness/set-apartness to the point of personal sacrifice was the key to an effective mission in a hostile world. (Gerald Borchert, The New American Commentary).
The fruit of His consecration was our consecration: that they also may be sanctified in truth . Jesus didn’t only purpose our entry into heaven, He also purchased our increasing holiness on earth. His sacrifice bought it and, as the Spirit applies it, our witness in the world takes place. He didn’t die for us to find common-ground with the world.
We could forge imperatives from these verses for our application and be justified in doing so from other inspired truth. We should be holy (Leviticus 11:14; 1 Peter 1:15). We should long for the Word (1 Peter 1:2), meditate on it day and night (Psalm 1:2). We should be transformed and not conformed to the world (Romans 12:2). We should make disciples in the world (Matthew 28:18-20).
We could also take these verses as an example of what to pray for. Every application of sanctification requires grace, so we need to ask God to provide. It is His work to sanctify, He reveals and teaches the Word, He strengthens our witness and gives it effect in the world.
But perhaps what we really need to do, which may be the most difficult of all, is to believe these verses. Do we believe that this is really God’s desire and design? Do we really trust that the Father, Son, and Spirit are at work, at work in us and among us and through us? Is He sanctifying us? Is He uniting us? Is He manifesting His name to the world using us as His witnesses?
Yes He is. This is the gospel. This is God’s plan and power and purpose to give eternal life and share His unity, joy, and holiness with His people. Yes we need to obey. Yes we need to pray. And yes we will do all of that as God calls us to stay and portray and trust His way.