Your word is truth
Devotional for November 19 · John 17:17 · 12-minute read
6I have revealed Your name to those You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7Now they know that everything You have given Me comes from You. 8For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours. 10All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine; and in them I have been glorified. 11I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one. 12While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them. 14I have given them Your word and the world has hated them; for they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. 18As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify Myself, so that they too may be sanctified by the truth.
Context
John 17 records Jesus’ prayer on the night He was betrayed. Chapters 13 to 16 contain His last conversation with the disciples after the supper: the foot washing, the announcement of the betrayal, the promise of the Holy Spirit, the image of the vine. Then Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven and prays out loud, in front of them. Soon afterward He crosses the Kidron Valley and is arrested in the garden (18:1–12). It is the prayer of someone who knows the cross is only hours away.
This prayer is traditionally called the High Priestly Prayer, because Jesus intercedes for His own like a priest before God. It has three parts: Jesus prays for Himself (v. 1–5), for the disciples who are there (v. 6–19) and for all who will believe through them (v. 20–26). Our verse is at the center of the second part. Jesus does not ask for the disciples to be taken out of the world, but to be kept and sanctified in the middle of it.
What the text says
- v. 14: Jesus says, “I have given them Your word.” The word that sanctifies is not just any religious message, but the one the Father gave the Son and the Son handed on to the disciples (v. 8).
- v. 15: “I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.” Sanctification is not escape; it is protection within the world.
- v. 19: “For them I sanctify Myself.” Jesus sets Himself apart for the mission that would take Him to the cross, and it is through this that the disciples are also sanctified.
Reflection
The word “sanctify” often sounds distant, as if it were for perfect people or for those who live apart from the world. In the Bible, the basic idea is different: to sanctify is to set apart for God. A holy object in the temple was not magical; it was something that belonged to the Lord and served His purpose. When Jesus prays, “Sanctify them by the truth,” He is asking the Father to take the disciples for Himself, shape them and use them.
The surprising part is where this happens. Jesus does not ask for a monastery. He says the disciples are in the world (v. 11), that the world has hated them (v. 14) and that He Himself is sending them into the world (v. 18). Sanctification is not a bubble. It is belonging to God at the office, at school, at home, on the internet. The sanctified person is not the one who runs from reality, but the one who lives in it while belonging to another Lord.
And the instrument of this setting apart is the truth: “Your word is truth.” In John’s Gospel, this sentence has layers. Jesus is called the Word, the Word who became flesh (1:14), and He says of Himself that He is the truth (14:6). The words He received from the Father were handed on to the disciples (v. 8 and 14), and later they would be written down by the apostles. So when we read Scripture with faith, we are not just piling up information. We are exposing ourselves to the voice that forms, corrects and sets apart. The Word does not only explain who God is; it changes us little by little so that we belong to Him.
In a time when everyone has their own version of the facts, this prayer is also a comfort. There is a truth that does not depend on an algorithm, on majority opinion or on my mood of the day. It is not always comfortable; sometimes it confronts what I would like to hold on to. But it is solid. And Jesus does not only teach this truth: He prays that it will reach us.
Finally, look at verse 19. The disciples’ sanctification is tied to Jesus’ own: He sets Himself apart, out of love for them, to go to the cross. Our holiness does not begin with our effort, but with His self-giving. That is why we can approach the Word without fear, as children and not as defendants. If you have been reading the Bible very little, or only reading it without letting it question you, start again with humility: read a short passage, ask what it says about God and about you, and obey what has become clear.
Connections
- John 1:14 (cross-reference): The Word became flesh: in John, the truth that sanctifies has a face and a name, Jesus.
- John 14:6 (cross-reference): Jesus presents Himself as the way, the truth and the life, tying truth to His own person.
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (cross-reference): Scripture is useful for teaching, correcting and equipping the person of God for every good work.
To apply
- Heart: have I been letting God’s Word correct me, or do I only read it when it agrees with what I already think?
- Relationships: in which setting (work, school, family, social media) do I most need to live as someone who belongs to God, without running away and without blending in?
- Today: read John 17:6-19 slowly and choose one sentence to obey in a practical way today.
Prayer
Holy Father, You are true, and Your word is truth. Thank You that Jesus prayed for me even before I believed, and gave Himself in love so that I would be Yours. I confess that I often prefer my own opinions to Your word, and that I read the Bible without letting it change me. I surrender my mind and my habits to You. Sanctify me by Your truth, keep me from the evil one and send me into the place where You have put me, to live as someone who belongs to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
To memorize: John 17:17
Today's step: Set aside ten minutes in the next 24 hours to read all of John 17 and write down one sentence from Jesus’ prayer that you will put into practice.
To go deeper: read John 17–18 and get to know The Last Supper.