¹⁹ “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

How can Jesus sanctify Himself when He is already perfectly holy? The word for sanctify is “hagiazo” and is related to the holy “hagios.” One sanctifies oneself to become holy. But what does this mean for Jesus?

The problem lies with our erroneous understanding of what it means to be holy. The meaning has changed through the centuries, where the Church, as it has in many other areas, has strayed toward human traditions. Iconography (the use of visual imagery) has portrayed holy men as having halos above their heads, having been declared saints in some sectors and requiring veneration by the adherents to that religious expression.

The word “saint,” to be sure, is used in Scripture, though very rarely in the Gospel accounts (see Matt 27:52). But the apostle Paul used the term frequently, most notably in his letter to the carnal Christians in Corinth: “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ … “(1 Cor 1:2). In fact, his custom was to refer to believers as “saints” as even a superficial survey of the word use in his writings will make clear. In the biblical use of the word, all believers in Jesus Christ are saints, or to put it another way, holy ones.

The word means “to be separated out for God’s use.” When Jesus came to this earth, He separated Himself out for the Father’s purposes. He was fully devoted to the One who sent Him (vs. 18 “You sent Me into the world”). At the famous well of Sychar, Jesus told the disciples, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” This would seem like a matter of course to us, for after all, He was God in the flesh. He could do no other than the will of God.

Yet we see Jesus that very night, shortly after His Upper Room prayer, wrestling in the Garden of Gethsemene, the night before He died. Three times He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” The struggle was real. In His own words, He said, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death.” Luke, the doctor, perceptively records, “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.” The question of sanctification was at the heart of the issues. Would He set Himself apart from all human desires for self-preservation, to obedience to the Father’s will?

Father, like Your Son, I too want to set myself apart for doing Your will.