Jesus, the son of God, the manifest presence of the glory and holiness of God, addresses his father as holy, and asks that his father will sanctify those who are his. This truth feels like dense onion, layer after layer of incomprehensible reality.

A holy Savior asks his father, who is just as holy, to keep those given to himself though the mighty name of his father. We find this statement in John 17:11 and it reads as follows. "And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one." This carries the tone of farewell message. John places these words of Christ right before the betrayal and crucifixion. This could be chronological but John may also be arranging these last words of Jesus in a poetic and profound way. These words crescendo into a symphony of speech. Jesus pours out his heart in love for the father and for his friends that keep his fathers commandments. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends," John 15:13. Jesus obeys his father, glorifies his father, and seeks his father as he walks down the road to Calvary. So lets look at John 17:11 in light of this beautiful yet anxious context. Jesus' time on earth is nearing the end. He cries out to his father, "keep them in your name."

So who is doing the saving here, Jesus or Father? Both are. God sends his son for salvation of the world and Jesus gives his life of his own accord. Jesus glorifies the father in his obedience, the father glorifies the son with the authority over all flesh, to raise those given to him for eternal life. This prayer from Jesus in not only a plea for preservation of his friends but also a request for unity, "that they may be one, even as we are one." A pursuit of holiness is meaningless if it is void of unity. A holy people is set apart not through their own strength, but in the strength given to them through the spirit of God. This is where we find the reason for Jesus saying It is better for me to leave. For the Helper will come. The Helper has come. Only through the Helper may I be united in Christ's death and resurrection. Jesus speaks this prayer for the eleven that hold fast, but extends it to those who believe in him through their word.

We experience the eternal work of Christ today in Longmont. I know the father only through the work of Christ. I know Christ through the faithful feet of those untied in him. Those who walked the dusty streets two thousand years ago. Redemption unfolds. A redemption that unites those who would have no natural reason to love each other. I have friends in Christ, brothers, sisters, who I love in the name of God. These words of Christ are fulfilled in what we see today. "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” If some other name united us, our meeting together would be worthless. We puruse holiness and chase after Christ's likeness for God is in us. His love now shapes the thoughts we think, the steps we walk, and the life we live. It is no longer our life, but Christ's life in us. How beautiful is this prayer of Jesus. A holy King walking toward the cross asking his holy Father to keep them blameless. The apostle Paul reiterates this prayer in his writing saying, "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The King of Kings carried out the will of his father and is coming back for his bride. May we dress ourselves in the righteousness of Christ. A life well lived is one that responds to this prayer in thanksgiving. Christ paid it all, gave it all, and is worthy of it all.

John 17:11 - ESV And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 - ESV Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10:10 - ESV And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.