Sanctification in the Jesus Tradition It is generally accepted that holiness is a central issue in the Old Testament. According to the Exodus tradition, God has chosen Israel for himself to be a holy people. He has led the people out of Egypt and into the holy land, and — closely connected with entry into the promised land — given them the sanctuary in Jerusalem to maintain their holiness. As God’s people they are called to live holy lives which express God’s holy will. The prophets expect that in the kingdom of God or the Messiah, for that matter, God’s all pervasive holiness will overcome the distinction between the holy and the profane (Zech 14,20-21; cf. Isa 4,3; Ezek 36 and 37). According to Zeph 3,9, even Gentiles will participate in that universal sanctification (1). In Paul, the issue of holiness and sanctification is even more prominent than that of justification. In fact, the respective terminology occurs in every single letter, except Galatians. But in the synoptic tradition about Jesus, this whole terminology is conspicuous by its absence. Apart from a few instances where it is used in a rather more traditional way — in expressions like “the holy Spirit”, “the holy city”, “the holy angels” — Jesus hardly ever seems to talk about holiness or sanctification. As a consequence, John Riches in his article on holiness concludes, that Jesus consciously eschews the terminology of holiness and sanctification. According to Riches this terminology was re-introduced in later parts of the christian tradition by the Hellenistic Jewish christians who initially spread the teaching of Jesus (2). These observations, valid as they may be, require supplementation. Jesus does speak about holiness and sanctification in a very prominent place, namely in the opening petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “hallowed be your name” (Matt 6,9 par. Luke 11,2), which Riches only mentions in passing. In this petition the whole notion of holiness as it is presented in the Old Testament is taken up and placed right at the centre of Jesus’ message (3). (1) Cf. Jub 4,26, which envisages “the sanctification of the earth ... from all impurity and sin”; for the opposite view see syrBar 98,4-5. (2) Cf. J. RICHES, “Heiligung”, TRE XIV, 718-737, 720. (3) According to N.T. WRIGHT, “The Lord’s Prayer as a Paradigm of Christian