My Judgment is Righteous

"I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me.

"If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of me is true. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's, for the works which the Father has given me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me. And the Father himself, who sent me, has testified of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. But you do not have his word abiding in you, because whom he sent, him you do not believe.

"You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of me. But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

- John 5:30-47

In this passage, Jesus continues his testimony regarding himself and his relationship to the Father. After he healed the paralytic at the pool called Bethesda, he was taken to task for healing on the sabbath, and for telling the paralytic to take up his bed and walk. At that time, Jesus expressed his relationship to the Father and further enraged those who accused him of violating the law. He then began to explain his relationship to the Father, and he continues in today's passage.

Jesus has explained judgment in yesterday's passage, and stated that the Father has given judgment into Jesus' hands. Today he continues in the vein and dialogue of language of judgment: trial, testimony, witnessing. As his nature and the Father's are one, Jesus says, his judgment is just. He follows what the Father teaches. God the Trinity is united in nature and will and energy, but the human Jesus expresses here the principle of the Father in whom all originates. I am by no means a theology expert, but one must consider the difference in the nature of time and its experience: in the eternal life of God the Trinity, linear time doesn't exist. But time defines our choices and decisions in our temporal world. My study bible expresses it this way: "In their manifestation in the world, however, all energy originates in the Father, being communicated through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Here there is a sense that the Son obeys the Father. This is because in His human nature, the Son has human energy--including human will--which he offers to God the Father as the source of all. This is his own will which must do the will of the Father."

In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (see Deut. 17:6). Continuing in the parlance of legal terminology and judgment, Jesus offers four witnesses for testimony to his identity: God the Father, John the Baptist, Jesus' own works, and the Old Testament scripture through which Moses testifies. Although Jesus says that he does not receive his honor, or glory, from men, he offers John the Baptist as a witness, because he knows that those to whom he is speaking do receive honor from men. He says that they cannot hear the testimony of the Father because they cannot see Him and do not know Him: Jesus is speaking of relationship of creature to Creator, and claims that if they knew the Father they would also recognize the reality - the identity - of the Son. But they can see and receive neither. The scriptures themselves are testimony of Moses, but neither can they perceive that to which Moses testified in their midst. Nor do they perceive in the works that Jesus does the reality of the presence of the Father, through whose will the works are done.

Jesus is testifying to relationship, to the nature of his relationship to the Father they claim to worship. And yet, we cannot get away from relationship: all are related in love -- those who testify and the One to whom all testify. His works are works of love, John's testimony is born not only of trust but also of love. The Father loves the Son and has committed all to him, and the Son's love for the Father is all. Moses was not just a man of faith and trust in the Divine, but one who acted of love for God and all that was revealed through the fullness of his prophecy and role as prophet. It is time, Jesus is saying, to understand the fullness of this gift of the Law, whence it comes and to whom it is pointing and testifying. And that presence is before them but they cannot see it, because they do not possess the relationship to the very thing to which the Scriptures bear witness. It is a powerful testimony, to come to understand what it is to worship "in spirit and in truth" and to come to understand what it means that "the law shall be written on their hearts."

Jesus says, "I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?" There is a kind of duelling standard at work: either we receive testimony through that which is Divine, or we receive only the word of men to give glory to others. We recall that it is in John's gospel, a little farther along, that we will read of Jesus saying, "They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." From whence comes glory and honor? Is everything in life about the glory and praise we receive from others? Or are we called to a deeper reality that must live within us, a relationship of love with Creator, through which relationship extends to others, "in His name?"

Over and over again, we are taken to deeper levels by Jesus through his talks. Where do we begin in relationship, in faith and trust and love? Just as he follows the Father, so we begin with Creator, with something that is deep inside of us. We seek a relationship to that which is written on our hearts, a kind of love that the world cannot touch and that exists despite the hardness or fickleness of the world. Separately from the rules which govern human glory and honor, this powerful call is rewarding beyond the glory of the world and the "praise of men." Ultimately it is a sustaining depth of love that renews and refreshes. It gives meaning and power to life no matter what happens. It transfigures our experiences, and teaches us meanings, gives us values to be a part of. It teaches us dignity in its life-affirming power and its message of love: that Creation is good, and we are created for a glory beyond that which we can give to ourselves alone and that others can give by praise. It is love that sustains us and makes us who we are, and calls us forward in its truth. The righteous judge and his testimony works through love, and sees us in that light, and calls us toward it.