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.
Sanctification in the Jesus Tradition 155
case of Lev 22: a call to) the santification of God’s name by
obedience (7), just as God’s name is desecrated by the disobedience of
his People: cf. Lev 18,21; 19,12; 22,32; Jer 34,16; Amos 2,7 and others.
All interpreters do not consent to this interpretation of the opening
petition of the Lord’s Prayer. However, I would like to show that the
reality to which this petition points, is a governing principle
underlying Jesus’ entire ministry. Through his coming the eschato-
logical restoration of the people of God as it is promised in Ezekiel 36
has already begun, just as the kingdom of God mentioned in the
second petition of the Lord’s prayer, has already broken in (Luke 11,20
and 17,21 par. Matt 12,28 define in which respect the Kingdom of God
is present in his own ministry). Jesus takes up the teaching and
promises of the prophets, but at the same time goes beyond them by
claiming that through his coming the reality to which they prophesied
is now being fulfilled. The prophetic-messianic understanding of
sanctification that this entails, can be traced throughout all the different
layers of the synoptic gospel tradition. It finds its expression in
statements about 1) Jesus’ own holiness, 2) the beginning of the
gathering of the people of God, 3) the cleansing of the people of God,
4) the Holy Spirit, 5) the demand of unconditional obedience towards
the will of God, 6) Jesus’ attitude towards the Temple cult.
1. Jesus’ Own Holiness
According to Luke Jesus is called “holy†because he was begotten
by the Holy Spirit (1,35). He is introduced as “full of the Holy Spiritâ€
from the very beginning of his ministry (cf. Luke 4,1.14.18 to Isa 61,1;
cf. also Mark 1,10 parr.).
In the gospel of Mark, he is called “the Holy one of God†in the
passage about the demon possessed man at Capernaum in Mark 1,21-
28 (par. Luke 4,31-37). As “the Holy One of God†he has authority
over the unclean spirits. This authority indicates that in him the
kingdom of God is at hand (Luke 11,20) (8). The fact that the author of
the fourth gospel and Luke in Acts 2,25 could use “the Holy One of
God†as a designation of the Messiah, suggests that they knew it to
have messianic connotation, even though the respective traditions are
not accessible to us any more.
(7) LOHFINK, Gemeinde, 27.
(8) According to AssMos 10,1 the end of Satan coincides with the beginning
of the reign of God.
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