Hallowed Be Thy Name
Lenten Midweek Series: The Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Passion
John 17
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
February 25, 2026
The First Petition
Hallowed be Thy name.
What does this mean? God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also.
How is God’s name kept holy? God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!
Let us pray.
Dear heavenly Father, sanctify us in the truth. Your word is truth. Amen.
You may have noticed that I begin most of my sermons with that prayer. I do that because growing up, my dad, who was also my pastor, began his sermons with that prayer. And a while back, I listened to a recording of my grandpa preaching back in the seventies or eighties, and he began his sermon with the same prayer. But this is not just a family tradition. Where did we get this prayer? Jesus taught it to us. John 17 is called the High Priestly Prayer. The entire chapter is one prayer spoken by Jesus to His Father in heaven on the night in which he was betrayed, just a little while before He was arrested and taken away to be crucified. Verse 17 summarizes well the entire prayer, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth,” means the same thing as “Hallowed be Thy Name.” Hallowed, sanctify, and consecrate all mean the same thing; they are translations of the same Greek verb. They mean make holy. To be holy means to be set apart. God is thrice Holy: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Holy, Holy, Holy. His name is already holy before and without our prayer. But we pray in the petition, “Hallowed be Thy name,” that His name would be holy among us. When Jesus says, “Holy Father, keep them in Your name” He is saying the same thing as, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” God’s holy name is made known among us by His Word. And so, through His Word, He hallows His name among us, He sanctifies us, He consecrates us. Jesus says, “And for their sake I consecrate Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”
This entire chapter 17 of John’s Gospel is Jesus praying the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “Hallowed be Thy name.” That means that He is praying that we would be sanctified in the truth of God’s Word, that is, that we would be set apart and be one with God. “That they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us.” (vs 21)
Jesus prays this immediately before His passion for our sins. He says, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Jesus is happy to suffer for our sins, because He desires to give us eternal life, the eternal life His suffering and death earns. Yet “how can they believe in Him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:14) And so, Jesus prays for the Word of God, which His disciples and the ministers of the Word after them will preach. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.”
On the cross Jesus tears down the barrier between God and us. He removes the cause of God’s wrath against us. He removes God’s reason for damning us, because Jesus endures damnation on the cross in our stead, as we hear Him cry, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” A lifetime of meditating on Christ’s passion cannot fully comprehend the depth of Jesus’ pain and suffering, which He endured for us. Yet He calls this His glory, because He is doing the will of His Father for the sake of our salvation. Yet we cannot receive this hard-fought salvation except through faith alone. And faith comes from hearing the Gospel alone. And so, before Jesus goes to suffer for our sins, He prays for the pure preaching of this Gospel, that the Word of God would be taught in its truth and purity, and that we the children of God would lead holy lives according to it. This is the first petition Jesus teaches us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer. And this is the final request Jesus makes of His Father in heaven before He goes to the cross.
So much depends on the pure preaching of the Word. When God’s Word is preached purely, it delivers to us the salvation Christ bled and died to win for us, it sanctifies us in God’s truth, setting us apart from this wicked and dying world, and uniting us to God through Christ. Everything depends on the pure preaching of God’s Word. Yet, when God’s Word is profaned by false preaching, by preachers leading their hearers away from true repentance and trust in Christ Jesus, by wicked living, which scandalizes the flock, then God’s name is not hallowed among us, then God’s children are not set apart from this wicked world and they do not receive Christ’s hard won salvation.
And so, we learn from Jesus how important it is to pray, “Hallowed be Thy name.” There is no greater way to honor the memory of Christ’s passion than God’s name being hallowed by the pure preaching of God’s Word. Because only God’s Word delivers to us the precious fruit of His passion: forgiveness, justification, eternal life, and sanctification. And so, recognize what you are praying for when you pray, “Hallowed be Thy name.” You are praying for your pastor and all pastors. Pray that they be kept from scandalous sins that would undermine their preaching, as St. Paul writes, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” Pray that they preach the law faithfully, because only God’s Law reveals our deep need for Jesus’ forgiveness and salvation. Pray that they faithfully preach the Gospel, Christ crucified to save sinners, because that is the only way we may be sanctified in the truth. Pray that they are diligent in their prayers and studying of Scripture, so that they are prepared to preach in season and out of season to the glory of God. And pray for yourselves, that you would listen to this preaching for which Jesus Himself prays. Pray that you would faithfully come to church and open your ears, and listen to the Word, which Jesus says will give you faith in Him (vs 20). Pray that by hearing the preaching of Christ, you would be set apart from this wicked world which hates Christ and everyone who follows Him, and that you would be united with God and Christ in the mystical union.
There is nothing greater for which you can pray than that God’s name be hallowed among us. Everything depends on it, all our prayers, our faith, our salvation. Even Christ’s passion for our sins would do us no good if the Father did not sanctify us in the truth of His Word. So, join Jesus in praying this petition, for He never ceases to pray it. And when you recognize that God is answering this prayer, because you have heard the Gospel and believe it, give thanks to God for sanctifying you in the truth. Amen.
Your name be hallowed, Help us, Lord,
In purity to keep Your Word,
That to the glory of Your name
We walk before You free from blame.
Let no false teaching us pervert;
All poor deluded souls convert. (Our Father, Who from Heaven Above, LSB 766:2)
Amen.