B, Easter 7 - John 17:17-19, Psalm 1 "Truly Sanctified"
Jesus
prays to our Father in heaven, “Sanctify
them in the truth: your word is truth.”
These words are familiar to our ears because many pastors begin their
sermons by also praying, “Sanctify us in
the truth: your word is truth.” What
is it to be sanctified in the truth?
Another
way of saying “sanctify” is “to make holy”!
We can view holiness in two parts to understand what being made holy, or
sanctified, is and does! First there is
the practical conception of being cleansed.
Second, when a person is cleansed, they are set apart. Like cleaning the dishes or washing the
clothes and then keeping them separate from that which is dirty.
But
being sanctified is much more than just being clean! Cleanness in our world is common. Many things are clean and common but are
still not holy or sanctified. Many
common things can also be dirty or are desecrated and defiled. But what Jesus prays for, here in John
chapter seventeen, is the common holy perfection that is found in God alone.
The
holiness to which Jesus seeks for those he prays is a holiness that separates
people from the common cleanliness and goodness of the world. After all, how good is good enough for God?
The
first we hear of holiness in the bible is in Genesis chapter two, where after
God worked the creation of the world in six days, he set aside the seventh day
as a holy day of rest. This is where we
get the word holiday; God created the sabbath holy day once a week, so we might
stop or sabbath from working, to rest with him.
God’s
original intention was for his holy created humans to stop and recognise God
above all that he created. Or to put
more simply, to see him as holy and the source of true holiness.
The
first Psalm of one hundred and fifty Psalms, is divided into five books and
parallels the five books of the Law (Genesis – Deuteronomy). As the first Psalm it paints a foundational
picture of God’s judgement, discerning what separates true holiness from what
is not holy in God’s eyes. We hear…
Blessed is the man who walks not in the
counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat
of scoffers; but his delight is in the
law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff
that the wind drives away. Therefore the
wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the
righteous; for the LORD knows the way of
the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1:1–6 ESV)
This
Psalm gives a picture of a man who neither walks, stands, nor sits with those
God sees as wrong, guilty, and contrary scoffers. Instead of being caught up in their ways,
this man delights in God’s law and ponders it day and night. It likens him to a tree planted by a
stream. Here we need to understand in
the Middle Eastern context, this is a date palm in the desert with its roots receiving
life from a stream of water. Date palms
are evergreen trees, and their fruit is “the sugar” of the Middle East.
Against
this, God pictures those who walk the wrong way forward, as chaff that’s blown
away! Those who stand unrepentant with
the guiltiness of sinners, will not survive judgement! Or those who scoff, with contrary teaching,
will not be a part of the righteous congregation!
Why? Because God knows the way of the righteous,
as the only way forward, the only sanctified way, because it is his way! However, the wrong way forward, the way
without the word of God, is a wicked way and it will perish with those who
persist in following it!
So,
who is this man who doesn’t walk, stand, or sit with the wicked, the sinners,
and the scoffers? Why does it have to be
a man? It has to be a man because the
man is Jesus Christ! All other men,
women, and children are not set apart as Jesus Christ is set apart, clean as
Christ is clean, perfect as Christ is perfect.
As
we have heard in John chapter seventeen, Jesus prays to the Father, “I consecrate myself”. No one else can do
this! No man! No woman!
No child! Those who think they
can consecrate themselves, or make themselves holy these days, reveals the
fruit of their foolishness sooner or later.
Like chaff they are blown away and do not endure. Like a deciduous tree they not only lose
their leaves, but they fall over dead, and are used as fuel for the fire.
But
Jesus does not consecrate himself for vainglory, he does it for us! He says, “And
for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in
truth.”
Jesus
does this for those who know the truth in every sense of the word “truth” and
God’s word. Jesus is not just the word
made flesh, he is the Word of God set apart in flesh, set apart from all other
flesh! Jesus is the word made flesh, to
also reveal the truth of all flesh, all men, women, and children!
The
irony of Jesus’ life on earth is he dwelt in the flesh with sinful humanity,
but he did not walk, stand, or sit in our ways.
Jesus was set apart for a very different way, the only way forward!
Jesus
sets himself apart from all other ways of walking, sitting, and standing, to
take up his position on the cross. When
John heard Jesus pray the prayer of chapter seventeen, just before he was
crucified, he and the other disciples would not have understood what this
self-consecration was. But later they
knew this consecration was the fulfilment of God’s word, to fill them and all
believers with the joy that was in him, which led him to the cross for us!
At
the cross a truly profound thing occurs!
The blessedness of the man Jesus Christ, who consecrates himself, who
does not walk, stand, or sit in the counsel of the wicked, is crucified for
those who know and confess the truth, that they are not like him but fail with
wayward walking, standing, and sitting.
At
the cross the truth of what is hidden is unhidden in the perfect flesh of Jesus
Christ.
At
the cross the truth of our unhidden unholiness, our being set apart from God as
his enemy, is covered by the holiness of Christ’s perfect flesh and sinless
blood.
We
are sanctified, made holy, in the truth of Jesus Christ because he is the Word
of God, and he is truth in every sense of the word “truth” and the Word of God!
In
the New Testament the Greek word for truth is, “what is not hidden”. At the cross Jesus does just that, he exposes
in his wretched crucified body, he takes what is hidden in humanity and makes
it public!
The
Old Testament Hebrew for truth is, “Amen.”
The “ truth” work of Jesus Christ’s consecration or setting himself
apart as our sin, and exchanging it for his sinless perfection, is truly our
Amen! This is the great “yes” of Jesus’
joy, our joy, and that of our Father.
This is the end of our way forward!
Jesus
sanctifies us in his words of repentance and forgiveness of sin in calling us
to believe his work at the cross. Just
as Jesus was sent into the world by God the Father, he sends all of you into
the world as his learners, as his disciples, made holy, sanctified, set apart
to carry Jesus Christ and his cross before others.
The
truth of the matter, the great Amen of Jesus’ prayer on earth, is he is now at
the right hand of our Father, interceding on our behalf, so we allow the Holy
Spirit to make him visible with his word in us.
But also to make his crucifixion consecration visible for others to
repent and be forgiven as we are! Jesus’
sanctified way in his word is the only way forward! Amen.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, even though the cross reveals us as sinners, thankyou for covering our sin at the cross, so we can walk, stand, and sit, before God our Father, to continually confess our sin. Thankyou for also sending the Holy Spirit, to set us apart as holy in your work at the cross, to receive life-giving faith, in your Holy Word and Holy Sacraments. Amen.
