¹¹ “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”

“Holy Father”—this is the only time in Scripture God is referred to in this way. Certainly the Father is holy, but we usually read of the third member of the Trinity spoken about in this way—the Holy Spirit. “Holy Father” emphasizes God’s separateness from the world, and in light of His disciples being “in the world,” this seems appropriate The Holy Father is completely “other than,” as theologians would describe holiness. He is not tainted by worldliness. One writer puts it this way: He is infinitely high because He is holy, but He is infinitely “nigh” (or close) because He is Father. The disciples being left “in the world” needed God to be both: Holy and Father.

Together, the Father and Son desire that His followers would also live holy, separated lives—separate from the sinful desires of the flesh and the self-centered view of life. The disciples may have been encouraged to hear Jesus praying this way, for they really didn’t want Him to leave. How would they fend for themselves in a world that was hostile to their Master, and now would be hostile toward them? The Holy Father who is separate, higher than anything in this world, would keep them separate, higher than their circumstances. God draws us up to His level, that is what it means to become holy like He is holy (see 1 Peter 1:16).

Worldliness is to live at the world’s level, walking apart from God, rather than apart from the world, as though we are with Adam and Eve, eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—apart from God. But holy living is to continue following Christ by following His teachings He left for us.

Jesus ties all this in with His request that His followers, “may be one even as We are.” This does not mean that Christians should all join in with the ecumenical movement to bring all churches together and ascribe to one set of doctrines. Such efforts are rooted in diminishing the core doctrines Christ taught, like His uniqueness and deity (John 8:58), His exclusivity (John 14:6, Acts 4:12), the nature of His sacrificial death on the cross—to name a few. The oneness Jesus prayed for was a unity among the true followers of Christ, a unity that comes through understanding and holding fast to the true teachings of Christ, not to every wind of doctrine that is labeled “Christian.” In the world, there will be many temptations to quit following Christ. Jesus asks that His followers continue together in living holy lives while still in this world.

Father, help me be holy today as You are holy always.