hi,
Can someone please explain to me the Gospel of Jn 17? Our Lord says :
"For their sake, I sanctified myself"
How can this be? What does He mean by this? I thought He was already sanctified?
And then He says :"Those which you have given Me, not one has perished".
But what does that mean? It means that Judas who did betray Our Lord, still did not perish?? What does this mean?
Thanks
Comments
Well, before we start, let's look at what the word sanctify means:
[quote author='thefreedictionary.com']sanc·ti·fy
tr.v. sanc·ti·fied, sanc·ti·fy·ing, sanc·ti·fies
1. To set apart for sacred use; consecrate.
2. To make holy; purify.
Now, if we define sanctify to mean 'to make holy; purify', then you would be right. Christ is already the perfect essence of holiness. He is holy. However, if we define sanctify to mean 'to set apart for sacred use; consecrate' then we could pursue a different interpretation of the text. Christ did sanctify Himself in the sense that He set Himself apart to take on the full punishment and burden of sin. If you see how He uses the word, He says, 'For their sake, I sanctified Myself'. In other words, for the sake of our fallen, corrupt nature; a nature that is prone to sin, He set Himself apart, came down from Heaven, took flesh and became one of us. He became a Man, so that He may share in the same fate as man who was born into sin. He became sin so that we may become holy and pure. Because of His love for us, He was willing to undergo extreme loneliness, shame, abuse, hatred and pain so that we could be, not only restored to, but exceed our former status. So, in the end, how we define 'sanctified' is what matters here.
Please pray for me.
I mean, that means then that judas did not perish?
hi,
Can someone please explain to me the Gospel of Jn 17? Our Lord says :
"For their sake, I sanctified myself"
to add for what Κηφ ς has said.
John 17:17-19
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
A commentary about this verse is:
Since He (Christ) voluntarily devoted Himself to this work, and cheerfully accepted of it: though it seems best to understand it of His offering Himself a sacrifice for, and in the room and stead of his people, in allusion to the offerings under the law, the sacrificing of which is expressed by sanctifying, (Exodus 13:2,14,15); and because His sacrifice was an Holy One: what He sanctified or offered was "Himself": not His divine, but human nature, his body and his soul; and these as in union with His divine person; which gives His sacrifice the preference to all others, and is the true reason of its virtue and efficacy.
[quote author=vassilios link=topic=5104.msg68614#msg68614 date=1173958227]
hi,
Can someone please explain to me the Gospel of Jn 17? Our Lord says :
"For their sake, I sanctified myself"
to add for what Κηφ ς has said.
John 17:17-19
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
A commentary about this verse is:
Since He (Christ) voluntarily devoted Himself to this work, and cheerfully accepted of it: though it seems best to understand it of His offering Himself a sacrifice for, and in the room and stead of his people, in allusion to the offerings under the law, the sacrificing of which is expressed by sanctifying, (Exodus 13:2,14,15); and because His sacrifice was an Holy One: what He sanctified or offered was "Himself": not His divine, but human nature, his body and his soul; and these as in union with His divine person; which gives His sacrifice the preference to all others, and is the true reason of its virtue and efficacy.
Oooo Thanks Mina, that was a nice explanation!
I ought to get a bible with a good commentary section.
Nevermind. What about the last part: "Those which You have given Me, not one has perished"
??
Nevermind. What about the last part: "Those which You have given Me, not one has perished"
??
which verse is this exactly??
Im sorry, i understood it know. I got a Bible with a commentary. Its all in there.
THe verse was this:
John 17: 12: "When I was with them I kept them in thy name; those thou hast given me I have guarded, and not one of them has perished, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled."
Apparently, what it means is that Christ does not pray that they might be rich and great in the world, but that they might be kept from sin, strengthened for their duty, and brought safe to heaven. The prosperity of the soul is the best prosperity. He pleaded with his holy Father, that he would keep them by his power and for his glory, that they might be united in affection and labours, even according to the union of the Father and the Son. He did not pray that his disciples should be removed out of the world, that they might escape the rage of men, for they had a great work to do for the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. But he prayed that the Father would keep them from the evil, from being corrupted by the world, the remains of sin in their hearts, and from the power and craft of Satan. So that they might pass through the world as through an enemy's country, as he had done. They are not left here to pursue the same objects as the men around them, but to glorify God, and to serve their generation. The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world.
I think this is a verse we use for our kids, that we don't want them to be great in the world, but great in Heaven!! Its just that sunday school teachers, in Egypt, when they are given their class actually write this verse on their Sunday School notebooks: "THose which you have given me, Not one has perished" to remind the teacher that his/her duty is to lead each person into heaven: i.e. to be more concerned with their heavenly/spiritual life than worldly life.
I was just confused because I didnt know what Christ meant exactly until i read the commentary.
Hey Homeboy, (lol)
don't start...............
I think a lot of work made on tasbeha.org could be avoided if everyone purchased a good Bible with a commentary section.
Now, i admit, i do ask a lot of questions on here, but the simple reason is this: Im totally scared to read any English Bible with a commentary. It has the name of some English guy on there - i don't know... why doesn't our CHurch make for us a Bible with a commentary... it worries me the comments in there, so i just come on tasbeha.org , ask a question and make sure it is ok.
Take care homey,
(LOL)
You know Mina,
I think a lot of work made on tasbeha.org could be avoided if everyone purchased a good Bible with a commentary section.
Now, i admit, i do ask a lot of questions on here, but the simple reason is this: Im totally scared to read any English Bible with a commentary. It has the name of some English guy on there - i don't know... why doesn't our CHurch make for us a Bible with a commentary... it worries me the comments in there, so i just come on tasbeha.org , ask a question and make sure it is ok.
Take care homey,
(LOL)
not necesserly. poeple just need to know about: biblestudytools.net
Are these sites/links Coptic Church approved?
WHat im trying to say is, u cannot trust any one making a commentary.
Mina,
Are these sites/links Coptic Church approved?
WHat im trying to say is, u cannot trust any one making a commentary.
well it just have the bible in many translations which can be used to reseach. and the commentaries most of them apply to us. also there is many books from our fathers that explain the bible. mostly in arabic thoo. :-\
I know that there are individual books of the bible that priests have written commentaries about in english. You could ask your Church bookstore about them. You could also probably find some more here at www.orthodoxbookstore.org.
Please pray for me.
These are good bibles, but alas only availabe for the new testament.
Perhaps you've misunderstood. I'm not talking about study bibles. What I'm saying is that you can find books by, for example, Fr. Tadros Malaty on the book of Isaiah for instance, which is a commentary on the entire book and where he uses writings of the early Church Fathers as well. I happen to have a copy of his book on the Epistle of St. James, and he goes verse by verse and chapter by chapter.
Please pray for me.
The commentary was longer than the book in the old testament!!
And if (JUST IF!!) they decided to create the Orthodox Study Bible, no doubt it will be made up of such commentaries, but just a summary... I don't wanna degree in theology, i just want a quick n' sweet explanation.
God bless, pray for me
My humblest apologies. I didn't realize you were only after a 'cliff notes' understanding of certain verses.
Please pray for me.
For example. H.H. Made a book called "Contemplations on Jonah the Prophet". It was brilliant. Its a great read. But, when u read a small verse from the Bible, its a bit too much to have read an entire 400 page book just to get the jist of what's being said in just 1 little verse.
Please pray for me also
Yabni, u have GOT to be joking. I met fr T. Malaty whilst walking outside my Church. I went up and said hi. Extrememly nice man.. he said to me:"Oh.. come, i have something for u" . I said "Sure..." . He then opened the trunk of his car, and gave me 4 books on his commentaries for the old testament. One was on Esther (i think) , the rest on Isiah etc.. can't remember ; but they were huge!! HUGE!! I mean... H U G E... i wanted to tell him :"Listen, thanks, but can u just give me a quick summary?"
The commentary was longer than the book in the old testament!!
that's how rich our bible is. and i am sure he would say in the books that this only a small understanign of it.