Hanna Stettler, «Sanctification in the Jesus Tradition», Vol. 85 (2004) 153-178
According to the Synoptic Jesus tradition, Jesus brings about the eschatological sanctification of Israel promised in Ez 36,22-32 and 37,28. He ushers in the time of the Holy Spirit, and gathers God’s eschatological people, which includes sinners as well as Gentiles. Moreover, he sanctifies people by healing and cleansing them, and teaches them to live a holy life. According to Jesus, the holiness of God’s holy people is no longer jeopardized by ritual impurity. This is not because ritual purity is irrelevant per se, but because in Jesus, the "Holy One of God", God’s holiness has come into the world. Jesus sanctifies people and time so completely that the intention of the ritual Torah is fulfilled. Holiness is now to be lived out through mercy and love, even for one’s enemy.
154 Hanna Stettler
In all extant versions of the Lord’s Prayer (i.e., Matthew, Luke,
Didache) the wording of the opening petition is: “Hallowed be your
nameâ€. The meaning of this petition is not to be restricted either to an
ethical or an eschatological sense (4).
To sanctify God’s name means, first of all, to perceive in ultimate
reverence and fear God revealing himself (5). According to Lev 19,2
parr. this recognition of the holy God must lead to a holy life.
The expression “to sanctify God’s name†occurs only in Ezekiel 36
and 44(,41.44), in Lev 22,32 and Isa 29,23. In Ezek 36,22-32 God
promises that his name will be sanctified as a result of the
eschatological action of the Holy Spirit (6). God himself will sanctify
his name before the nations (36,23) by gathering his people from the
nations (36,24), purifying them from impurity and idolatry (36,25),
giving them a new heart and a new spirit (36,26), leading them to
obedience through the Holy Spirit (36,27), and by re-establishing them
in the land (36,28a). Then they will experience the reality the covenant
formula describes: “You shall be my people, and I will be your Godâ€
(36,28b; 37,27), and will be sanctified once more (37,28).
It follows that the petition “hallowed be your name†implies
nothing less than the recreation or restitution of Israel as a holy people
in fulfilment of this prophecy. For, not only in Ezek 36, but in all other
instances where the formula of sanctifying God’s name occurs in the
Old Testament, there is a firm connection between the sanctification of
God’s name and the restitution (or — in the case of Lev 22 — the
institution) of his people. This restitution implies renewal of (in the
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Prayerâ€, Into God’s Presence. Prayer in the New Testament (ed. R.N.
LONGENECKER) (Grand Rapids, MI – Cambridge, U. K. 2001) 147, the Lord’s
Prayer is “the heart of the New Covenant Charterâ€.
(4) H. GESE, “Bemerkungen zum Vaterunser unter dem Gesichtspunkt
alttestamentlicher Gebetsformenâ€, Jesus Christus als die Mitte der Schrift (ed. C.
LANDMESSER) (BZNW 86; Berlin – New York 1997) 427; cf. G. STRECKER,
“Vaterunser und Glaubeâ€, Glaube im Neuen Testament. Festschrift für H. Binder
zum 70. Geb. (ed. F. HAHN – H. KLEIN) (Biblisch-theologische Studien 7;
Neukirchen-Vluyn 1982) 22. According to O. CULLMANN, Salvation in History
(New Testament Library; London 1967) 166 the “tension between ‘Already’ and
‘Not yet’ †is “a key to the understanding of the New Testament salvation historyâ€.
(5) Cf. GESE, “Vaterunserâ€, 427.
(6) Cf. P. STUHLMACHER, Biblische Theologie des Neuen Testaments
(Göttingen 21997) I, 87; G. LOHFINK, Wie hat Jesus Gemeinde gewollt? (Freiburg
im Breisgau 1993) 26-27; J.A. FITZMYER, Luke. Introduction, translation, and
notes (AB 28; Garden City 1985) II, 898.
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