Jesus’ prayer in John seventeen takes a person into the very heart of God. Though there are many statements which capture my attention as the Son of God beseeches His Father, none is more stirring than the Son’s entreaty: “Sanctify them in the truth, Your word is truth” (v. 17).
The Request: When the word “sanctify” lands upon one’s ear, the ideas of moral purity and personal holiness often come to mind. These ideas, although true, are not the primary meaning of sanctify. “To consecrate” or “to set apart” lie at the heart of the word. The idea of moral purity arises when an object or a person is “consecrated” or “set apart” to a holy God.
One may ask, “What does Jesus mean when He petitions the Father to ‘sanctify’ the disciples?” The Master Teacher leads us to the answer. Jesus makes it clear that His disciples will live their lives in the world, but they will be distinct from it. He requests of his Father, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world.” Then Jesus says, “…they are not of the world.” Jesus is teaching that His disciples, while in the world, will live a different type of life. Jesus’ disciples will live “consecrated” to God, and “set apart” from the world.
With Jesus’ appeal to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth…,” we may be inclined to ask the infamous question that fell from Pilate’s lips, “What is truth?” Jesus entered His world to answer this question. Jesus labored to declare that He was the Son of God sent to reveal the heart of the Father. This incarnational truth captures Jesus’ disciples, “For I (the Son) have given them (the disciples) the words that you (the Father) gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you.” The disciples’ belief that Jesus is the Son of God set them apart from the world in which they lived; the truth sanctified them.
Jesus joins together God’s Word and “true truth” by stating, “Your word is truth.” Truth flows from the Son (the Word made Flesh), and from the Scripture (the written Word of God). Jesus prays that His disciples would live radically distinct lives in this world, lives immersed in truth. Jesus’ disciples bear the marks of sanctification with lives given over to the Son and saturated in the Scripture.
The Reality: Jesus teaches that those sanctified by the truth will live life in light of two opposite realities—enmity and joy. The sanctified disciple will face enmity in the world. He says, “The world has hated them because they are not of the world.” The Good Shepherd does not provide His sheep with unrealistic expectations. His disciples will experience enmity in the world.
Should the enmity of the world define the life of the disciple? Jesus provides the answer to this question when He prays, “… that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” He intends for His disciples to partake in divine joy. Jesus does not intend for His disciples to be crushed by or participate in the enmity of the world. Rather, He gave His life so that His disciples will be united with Him and participate in His joy. In the face of great opposition, Jesus’ disciples will demonstrate great joy.
The Reason: Why would Jesus pray that His disciples be immersed in truth, marked by God’s Word, and filled with joy? The answer is found in Jesus’ prayer: “I have sent them into the world.” Sanctification, therefore, serves as a means, not an end. God uses consecrated lives to spread His truth in a hostile world. May the Father continue to honor the request of His Son in our lives today!