SCOPE OF JESUS'S HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER IN JOHN 17, THE

Encounter, Winter 2006 by Janzen, J Gerald

In other words, a concern for sanctity that arises out of a heart and mind and will of love is not centripetal in its social tendencies but centrifugal. To the degree that a concern for sanctity displays centripetal tendencies which lead it to "circle the wagons" and, in effect, take itself out of the world (compare 17:15a!), such a concern is not a manifestation of the love of God in Christ. For that love manifests itself-shows forth its glory (John 12:27-28)-in undergoing the ultimate profanation of God's living sanctuary (1:14) on a cross of shame.

JESUS TRANSVALUES THE PRIESTLY UNDERSTANDING OF SANCTITY

I would like now to take one step further the presumably contrary vectors of the typically centripetal tendencies of the concern for sanctity (as exemplified, for example, in John 4:9b, 20) and the centrifugal impulse of Jesus' sending of his disciples into the world as [kathos] the Father has sent him into the world.16 Might the juxtaposition of these two concerns in 17:15-19 imply a transvaluation of our understanding of sanctity, through a connection with the prayer in 17:20-23?

I will begin with the central concern of the book of Leviticus as set forth in 11:44-45:

The separatist (and centripetal) impulse implicit in these verses is made explicit in Leviticus 20:26:

You shall be holy to me; for I the LORD am holy,

and have separated [aphorisas]n you from the peoples,

that you should be mine.

What is true for the congregation as a whole is especially true of "the priests, the sons of Aaron," as spelled out in reference to several specific issues in Leviticus 21. This chapter may be said to center in verse 8:

You shall consecrate [hagiasei] him, for he offers the bread of your God;

he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.

As is commonly recognized, the reiterated "be holy, for I am holy" lies behind Matthew 5:48, "Be perfect [teleioi], as [hos] your heavenly Father is perfect [teleios]," and Luke 6:36, "Be merciful [oiktirmones], as [kathos] your Father is merciful [oiktirmon]." Relevant to the concerns of this paper, one may note the following: Matthew 5:48 comes at the end of the first long section of the Sermon on the Mount. Does this verse sum up the whole sermon to this point? Even if it does, one may note that it follows immediately on the discussion of Leviticus 19:18, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." In Leviticus 19 that neighbor seems clearly to be identified as a member of one's own people. Jesus extends the injunction to encompass one's enemies, including one's persecutors. One is to love them and pray (sic!) for them "that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven." In Luke's version of the scope of love, the call is to "be merciful as your Father is merciful [otktirmos]." This characteristic of God is rooted in the promise of Exodus 33:19, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy [oiktireso] on whom I will show mercy [oiktiro]" and the definitive proclamation in Exodus 34:6, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful [oiktirmon] and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." (Paul, of course, quotes Exodus 33:19 in Romans 9:11 in a manner that seems to suggest God's selectiveness in showing mercy, but then in Romans 11:32 shows how God's mercy, in fact, "selects all.") The question these passages in Matthew and Luke raise is whether we are to see in John 17 a similar transvaluation of the concern for sanctity, as reversing its centripetal vector.