Isaiah 57:15 Hebrews 9:11-12 and 10:19-23 John 17:11-19
In the World, For the World
As we’ve already seen in the opening lines of our Lord’s prayer in John 17, his initial; thoughts were primarily focussed on the status of those whom the father had given to him. But, as he continued to pray, his emphasis began to shift from the disciples as recipients of God’s gracious act of salvation to their task in the world out of which which they had been taken. Although they, like us, were not of the world, they were to remain in the world to be witnesses to the world.
But for the disciples, it must have seemed as if there was one glaring problem with this arrangement. Jesus had just told them that he was about to leave them. Their reaction and their questions indicate that this imminent departure was one of the top thoughts on their minds. Initially they had just followed him, listening to him and watching him…but then he began to engage them in his teaching and his work…then he sent them out two by two on their own…but he had always been there. Now his prayer echoed his startling revelation: “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.”
Perhaps then, his words in the second half of verse 11 were meant to calm their fears. “Holy Father, keep in your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” Now, the term, ‘holy Father” is used only here in the whole of the New Testament. It is an interesting combination of words as “holy” indicates an otherness, a separateness, a transcendence…whereas “father” conjures up an image of connection and relational immanence. However, the grouping of these words is quite fitting as this section of the prayer concludes with a plea for sanctification…the divine act of making us children holy as he, our Father, is holy.
The request of our Lord for the disciples to be “kept” in the name of the holy Father highlights this act of sanctification. In the Ancient Near East, as still in many places today, a name often reveals an aspect of the bearer’s character. In this case, it is the holiness of the Father in particular. It is in this name…in this character trait of being holy…that the disciples will be kept and therefore enabled to, not only persist in the truth as revealed to them by Jesus, but also enabled to apply that truth to their own characters and thus be changed and conformed to the image of the Son (Romans 8:29).
And, according to Jesus, it is in this name…it is in this definite divine character trait of holiness that we find our unity. “Holy Father, keep in your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” The Trinity is, of course, our supreme example of unity…of oneness…of singularity of thought and purpose…but our oneness centres not around our collective selves, but rather our oneness is a direct result of our being united and kept in one name…the very particular name of the holy Father.
Although there are many different and varied expressions of our faith, the fact remains that those who abide in the name of the holy Father are one. All those who are distinct from the world through their being united to this one distinctive God…all who follow him and demonstrate that following through obedience to his Word…they are one as they are all united in who he is. The unity of the Church is in essence a unity of spiritual character…a unity that reflects the one in whom we are united. As such, our Lord’s request was not for an organic unity even though a lack of such unity does tend to bear a negative witness to the world.
Now it is possible that the term “Holy Father” may have been used by Jesus to also invoke the idea of our entry into the holy of holies. As the book of Hebrews tells us, Jesus not only opened the way into the innermost sanctuary, but because of his entry those who are sanctified by him may also enter the very holy presence of God. Just like the High priest was sanctified before being allowed to enter the holy of holies, so too those given to Jesus by the Father are secured for eternal redemption by the blood of Jesus and are therefore able to draw near with full assurance of faith.
We are one because we are united in the name of the holy Father and because we are united in his name, we bear the likeness of our holy Father. And because we are sanctified by the truth our unity is founded upon the truth revealed to us in the Scriptures. And we abide in Jesus because we have been given to him by the holy Father and kept by him in his name. You see, our unity is very specific.
Interestingly, Jesus’ statement that he had guarded or protected them is set in the context of tragic loss and of tragic betrayal by a friend. As such this very short declaration presents us with a startling contrast. Unlike those who were kept in the name of the Holy Father, Judas’ action exposed him as one who had for a time appeared to be united with the others, but at this crucial point in time, his rejection of the truth ultimately proved that he was not in the Father at all. He was the son of perdition. Judas thus serves as an image of those who do not keep the word…his deed reveals a shocking alternative to trust and love. If those who are in the Holy Father are there because of their being sanctified by the Word of truth, then those who are not in the Holy Father are not there because they are not sanctified by the Word of truth. By rejecting the truth of the Word, a very specific Word in this case, they have sealed their eternal fate.
However, Jesus said that Judas’ action fulfilled Scripture. This is most probably a reference to Psalm 41:9: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” But…and this is important…the prediction of his betrayal does not make God the author of the action of betrayal. Although nothing happens save that which is ordained by God, wicked people do wicked things because they are wicked, not because their deeds have been preordained.
The only reason believers in Jesus refrain from and are repulsed by their own sin, is because although they are in the world, they are no longer of it. Verses 13-16 focus primarily on the disciple’s lives after the ascension…after Jesus had returned to reign at the right hand of God the Father.
The first thing Jesus asked for in verse 13 is that “they may have (his) joy fulfilled in themselves”. In John’s Gospel, the joy of Jesus is very much the mark of the true believer. His joy is not a joy found in external things – if it was those in the comedy industry would possess it in abundance. But comedians are often the saddest people of all. No, rather the joy of Jesus is found in the revelation and acceptance of the truth.
Unlike the joy offered by the world, it is not a manufactured humour that needs to be excelled to elicit a constant upbeat response. No, our Lord’s joy comes from knowing that although the world and the evil one may hate us, we are kept safely in a place out of which nothing in all creation can remove us.
As hymn writer, Maltbie D. Babcock wrote:
“This is my Father's world: O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father's world: Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King: let the heavens ring! God reigns; let earth be glad!”
You see, the joy of Jesus is a joy founded on the unchanging nature of our almighty Father whose will cannot be thwarted by anything or anyone.
Of course, you must know that the moment the Word of Jesus touches your innermost being and you respond positively to it, you are declaring yourself at odds with the world. Our embracing the truth of Scripture indicates that we are no longer “of the world”. As sheep purchased by the Good Shepherd, we are led out of one sheepfold into another.
But as Jesus prayed here, we are not to be removed from the world because we have a very important task to complete. As he taught in the Sermon on the Mount, we are to be both salt – a common ancient Near Eastern image of judgement (Judges 9:45) – and light – the image of blessing and of revelation. So, instead of removal or “rapture” from the world – something some dear fellow believers hope will happen soon – Jesus prayed for our protection from the world and from the one behind the hatred of the world, the evil one himself, because we are to remain in the world as witnesses to him!
You see, God does not promise his children a life free from hardship, anxiety, opposition, or labour. He rather provides us with a joy that helps us to withstand these challenges. True, we may face danger, suffering, and persecution, but God’s grace keeps us from being overcome by evil.
Modern Christianity seems to have forgotten that we are to remain in this world for a reason. The Father did not give up on his creation…Jesus did not give up on his disciples…the Holy Spirit certainly does not give up on us…so why is it so easy for us to give up on those who do not yet know Jesus? Because we are not of the world does not give us license to ask, contrary to our Lord’s prayer here, to be removed from the world. Neither does this provide us with an excuse to withdraw from the world…rather we are to be in the world to engage the world.
Although our Lord was not of the world, he came into the world to save the world. To the hard-hearted, he was a constant irritant and a reminder of their falseness, their hypocrisy, and their ultimate destination. But to those who had ears to hear, he was a demonstration of God’s amazing and unconditional love for his creatures.
However, with his departure from the world, the Church as his body on earth has been given the same role as he had been given when he came to the world. As Jesus was sent into the world, so he now sends his followers into the world. For this reason, he asked for us to be sanctified in the truth. The word “sanctify” was usually used in the Old Testament to indicate a special dedication of a person or an object to God for special service. A sanctified person or object would then be declared holy …set apart by God for God. The various rituals surrounding the process and pronouncement of sanctification would attempt to show in temporal terms an eternal reality based upon a divine decree.
In his prayer, Jesus appears to indicate that sanctification is a product of an alignment with truth…but a very specific truth…truth as it is revealed by God in his Word. This idea is as basic to godliness as error and deception are basic to wickedness. According to Ephesians 5:26, it is the Word that constantly washes us and cleanses us from innate impurity.
The error in believing in a God that is dynamic…in other words, a God who, contrary to the teaching of Scripture and the faith held by the historic Church, is changeable, malleable, adaptable, or even pliable…is that if God alters or adjusts to suit the fluctuating deviations of the world, then the counter cultural message of every book of the Bible becomes baseless, meaningless, pointless, and irrelevant.
God uses His Word, not human ideas or opinions, to set us apart from the world for his special purpose. If we were like the world, we would not reflect the otherness of God or the holiness of God…and for this reason, our values, goals and actions ought to be different from the world.
But the main reason for this plea for sanctification is because the followers of Jesus are not only to be like their Lord, but they are also called to do the work of their Lord. In verse 18, Jesus said that as the Father had sent him into the world, so he, in turn, sends his followers into the world. As such, Jesus is the supreme example and pattern of what the Church should be. Every true follower of Jesus ought to be like him in his “sentness”. Not sharing the truth of the Word with the world means not being like Jesus.
Now, of course, part of being sent into the world like Jesus is learning to pray like he did. Prayer is central to what it means to belong to God while living in the world.
But my point is that we have been chosen out of the world for the world for a reason and a purpose. We have been left in this world for the world for a reason and a purpose. We have been sanctified by the Word for the world for a reason and a purpose. As Jesus was sent to the world, so we are sent to the world. We are salt, we are light, we are witnesses, we are ambassadors of truth.
For this to become a possibility, Jesus had to first sanctify himself so that he might sanctify others. Now, obviously, Jesus didn’t need any moral or spiritual improvement, but he was set apart by God for God. The imagery of the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies with the blood of the sacrifice to make atonement for the people is once again helpful here. As our great High Priest, Jesus was at once both the sacrifice as well as the one sacrificing…as we have seen before he had authority to give his life…no one took it from him…and he had authority to take up his life again. So, he is both sacrifice as well as the one sacrificing. He was sanctified or consecrated or set apart to complete this task of atonement.
But, unlike the High Priest, Jesus entered in with his own pure, undefiled, unblemished blood thereby establishing an eternal, once for all, atonement and reconciliation between God and humanity. One Lord…one sacrifice…one atonement…one way…one truth…one life.
In the world, but not of the world because we are in the world, for the world. The prayer of our Lord Jesus shows that we are indeed a special people…a chosen people, a holy people, a set apart people, a sent people. Yes, we are called out of the world to live in the presence of the Holy Father…but even so, simultaneously, we are to remain in the world so that the world may have a perpetual witness to what life was meant to be like…what life might indeed be like in the light of God’s merciful and loving character.
So, I echo the words of our Lord as I pray for us. May the Holy Father keep us in his name. May he sanctify us in his truth. May he sanctify us by his Word. And as he sent Jesus into the world, so may we be sent into the world. In the world, not of the world, but for the world.
Amen.
© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2024
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