Jesus continues to pray for those the Father has given Him:
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
John 17:19 KJV
What is truth?
‘What is truth?’ Pilate will soon ask the Creator of all things who came to this world of His creation.
Yet prior to the tragic truth of the trial of His righteousness sacrificed for us, Jesus prays for those given to Him:
“For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” [CSB]
Christ Jesus, sanctified for us, prayed about truth. So just as we previously defined sanctification [in our last post linked above] let’s define truth as used in scripture.
ἀλήθεια – truth
- objectively
- what is true in any matter under consideration
- truly, in truth, according to truth
- of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly
- what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth
- in the greatest latitude
- the true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention
- the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians
- what is true in any matter under consideration
- subjectively
- truth as a personal excellence
- that candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit
- truth as a personal excellence
The Truth of Eternal Life
All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.
Romans 3:23 CEV
This includes you, fellow sinner.
Eternal God and Mortal Man
A reflection of Psalm 90:
![Before the mountains were born
[c]Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Psalm 90:2 picture of mountains in mist by lake](https://talkofjesus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ps-90-2.jpg)
3 You return mankind to the dust,
saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”
7 For we are consumed by your anger;
we are terrified by your wrath.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days ebb away under your wrath;
we end our years like a sigh.
But what next?
‘The days of our years are threescore years and ten… OR perhaps eighty, the Psalm reminds us… (OR perhaps a score more, but maybe just 50 years… or a death more sudden).
‘… Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away.” – Psalm 90:10b NASB
Returning to the night of Jesus’ betrayal
The Messiah Jesus came to man — living among us and teaching God’s way.
The Lord looks toward heaven on this night on which He was betrayed. From an upper room in Jerusalem Jesus prays to God our Father. This perfect High Priest stands before His own Altar of suffering and Sacrifice on behalf of those the LORD has chosen.
For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
John 17:19 NASB
You will die and I will die.
The Son of Man did die… for those whom He sacrificed for Himself.
The witness of Scripture and the Gospel confirm what happened next to the Messiah of God. What will be next for you?
Hebrews 9: excerpt:
A New Covenant
Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies… only the high priest enters…
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation..
.. through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
… sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh …
… “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU.” …
For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us
Hebrews 9:24
… at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment
Hebrews 9:27 NASB
AND YES, fellow sinner, you know well from Scripture what is NEXT after DEATH.
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
Do You await HIM?
As Jesus our High Priest interceded for them, the Apostles only had hint of what would come next. Certain sacrifice of their Lord and ours! Probably persecution and death for each Disciple of Jesus, the only question being when.
Yet by the Lord’s prayer of protection He sent disciples into a world which hates Jesus, the Christ of GOD; a world which hates the very GOD it denies.
No question about it, ALL will die; but few await death with joyous expectation. Do you await the resurrection of our flesh and joining of your soul and the Spirit of the LORD GOD?
NONE want to face the Judgment of sin – an evil nature woven into our being which cannot face the Very Light of the Lord GOD.
Those who deny God or claim Christ falsely must, in time, face the judgment of having chosen darkness over the Light and Glory of God and of having refused God’s grace of a new choice to turn back to the path of righteousness which leads to life in paradise.
What is True of Christ Jesus?
The Good News of John about Jesus our Savior:
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Truth from the Gospel of John 14:6
- The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- “Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
- “This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil…
- “But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”
- “This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil…
- Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
- “I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 3:19 KJV
Do you hear your Savior’s voice and open the door to Him?
Will you receive eternal life?
He has sanctified those He calls to eternal life.
How will you get to the paradise of God without the righteousness of Christ Jesus?
‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. – Revelation 3:22 KJV
Amen.