Church Fathers Commentary John 17:14-19

"I have given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil [one]. They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth. As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth." — John 17:14-19 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: Again, our Lord gives a reason why the disciples are worthy of obtaining such favor from the Father: I have given them your word; and the world has hated them. That is, they are hated for Your sake and on account of Your word.

St. Augustine of Hippo: They had not yet experienced the sufferings they would later encounter, but as was His custom, He speaks of the future in the past tense. He then gives the reason why the world hated them, namely, because they are not of the world. This was given to them by regeneration, for by nature they were of the world.

It was given to them so that they would not be of the world, just as He was not of the world, as it follows: Even as I am not of the world. He was never of the world, for He received His birth in the form of a servant from the Holy Spirit, from whom they were born again. But though they were no longer of the world, it was still necessary for them to be in the world, for He says, I pray not that you should take them out of the world.

The Venerable Bede: It is as if He were saying, "The time is now near when I will be taken out of the world, and therefore it is necessary for them to be left in the world to preach Me and You to the world." He prays not that they be taken out, but that you should keep them from the evil—from every evil, but especially from the evil of schism.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He repeats the same thing again: They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

St. John Chrysostom: Above, when He said, "those whom you gave Me out of the world," He meant their nature; here, He means their actions. They are not of the world because they have nothing in common with the earth; they are made citizens of heaven. In this, He shows His love for them, thus praising them to the Father.

The word "as," when used with respect to Him and the Father, expresses a likeness of nature, but between us and Christ, there is an immense distance. He prays, Keep them from the evil—that is, not only from dangers, but from falling away from the faith.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He prays, Sanctify them through your truth, for in this way they were to be kept from the evil. But it may be asked: How could they not be of the world when they were not yet sanctified in the truth? It is because the sanctified must still grow in sanctity, and this by the help of God’s grace.

The heirs of the New Testament are sanctified in that truth, of which the sanctifications of the Old Testament were shadows. They are sanctified in Christ, who said earlier, I am the way, the truth, and the life. It follows, Your word is truth. The Father, then, sanctified them in the truth—that is, in His Word, the Only-Begotten. By "them," He means the heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, Sanctify them in your truth means, "Make them holy by the gift of the Holy Spirit and by sound doctrine," for sound doctrine gives knowledge of God and sanctifies the soul. Since He is speaking of doctrine, He adds, Your word is truth—that is, there is no lie in it, nor anything merely symbolic or physical. Again, Sanctify them in your truth may mean, "Set them apart for the ministry of the word and for preaching."

Glossa Ordinaria: As you have sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. They were sent for the same purpose for which Christ was sent into the world, as Paul said, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself... and has given to us the word of reconciliation. The word "as" does not express a perfect likeness between our Lord and His Apostles, but only as much as is possible for humans. He says, "have sent them," following His custom of speaking of the future in the past tense.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It is clear from this that He is still speaking of the Apostles, for the very word "Apostle" in Greek means "one who is sent." But since they are His members, in that He is the Head of the Church, He says, And for their sakes I sanctify Myself; that is, I sanctify them in Myself, since they are Myself.

To make His meaning clearer, He adds, That they also might be sanctified through the truth—that is, in Me. This is because the Word is truth, in which the Son of Man was sanctified from the time the Word was made flesh. For then He sanctified Himself in Himself—that is, Himself as man, in Himself as the Word—with the Word and man being one Christ.

But it is of His members that He said, And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, meaning He sanctifies them in Himself, since in Him they and He are one. So when He says, That they also might be sanctified in truth, "they also" means just as He is, and "in the truth" means in Himself.

St. John Chrysostom: Alternatively, for their sakes I sanctify Myself means, "I offer Myself as a sacrifice to You," for all sacrifices and things offered to God are called holy. And whereas this sanctification was formerly symbolic (with a sheep as the sacrifice), it is now done in truth, so He adds, That they also might be sanctified through the truth. This means, "For I also make them an offering to You." This could imply either that He who was offered up was their head, or that they would be offered up too, as the Apostle says, Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy.