I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you

"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 the present readings, Jesus is speaking to the authorities in the temple at Jerusalem. It began during the Feast of Pentecost (or the Feast of Weeks), during which Jesus was at a pool called Bethesda near the Sheep Gate. Many invalids waited there for the stirring of the water, which was believed to have been done by an angel. When the water stirred, it was believed that the first one in the pool would be healed. Jesus asked a man, who had been ill for 38 years, if he wanted to be healed. He told the man, "Take up your bed and walk." The authorities were upset that this man was carrying a burden on the Sabbath. When they found who Jesus was, He told them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." Then they sought all the more to kill Jesus, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but called Himself equal to God. In yesterday's reading, Jesus began His discourse on the life and nature of the Son. He spoke of the Son as doing nothing of Himself but what has been given by the Father. He said, "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will." Therefore all Judgment has been committed to the Son. Those who fail to honor the Son fail to honor the Father. Those with faith in the word of the Son will receive everlasting life. He told them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

"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." Here Jesus reaffirms His dedication to the Father, and the common will of both Father and Son. My study bible points out that in their divine Being, all Persons of the Trinity share the same will and energy. But as a human being, Jesus also has human energy: therefore in life in the world - as manifest human being - "all energy originates in the Father, being communicated through the Son in the Holy Spirit." His human will, then, is offered to God the Father as the source of all. "This," it says, "is His own will which must do the will of the Father." But Jesus has just finished speaking about the Judgment that is to come. So this is an extension of the teaching that all Judgment is in the hands of the Son.

"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." In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony required two witnesses. Here Jesus begins to offer witnesses to them. First there is John the Baptist - a very popular preacher, widely respected by the people as a holy man. But we note Jesus' words here: it's not the testimony of man that He thinks is essential. What He offers them is testimony that they may be saved. This is a testimony offered for their faith, their capacity to receive the life He offers to all. John's Gospel will continually remind us of the persecution to come to the Church at the hands of human beings and institutions; here the hint is clear that only for a time were they willing to rejoice in the light of John the Baptist.

"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." Here Jesus offers the signs or miracles He's done and puts them into clear context. These signs (such as at the wedding in Cana, or the healing of the paralytic) point to the Father; they bear witness that He's sent by the Father and bears the life of the Father in Him.

"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." The Father also bears witness to Jesus' status as Son. But only those who truly love the Father are capable of hearing His word within themselves, which comes through faith, manifesting in the form of faith and trust in the One who's been sent by the Father and represents the Father in the world..

"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?" Finally, there are the Scriptures themselves, in which the leadership are authorities and experts, keeping the Law and all rabbinical interpretation. But, says Jesus, the Scriptures testify of Him, and they can't see it; they don't understand it, they can't really read it. If they had the love of God truly in them, they would recognize Him as the One of whom the Scriptures speak. But all they believe in is the glory of man, the honor of men. If a famous rabbi were to say one thing and another, they would believe. But the real faith that comes from the Father? It's not in them. They don't receive Him. Finally, He has no need to accuse them Himself, but rather Moses - whom they claim to love - will testify against them. But they fail even to understand Moses, who has written about and pointed toward the Christ. And so, how can they receive His word when they don't really believe Moses?

Jesus gives us the idea here that Scripture is the living word of God. It's not something written long ago, heard once upon a time, relevant to some people at one time. But Scripture is something else altogether. It has a life and a presence that comes from what is holy. And there we enter into a kind of communication that goes beyond language, and words, and time, and place, and all the things we understand of human life minus the Kingdom. Scripture brings an energy with it. We can have a blinding insight from one passage that reflects to us something making clear a personal situation. We can meditate with it and pray with it. So the love of God is in this living word, as Christ Himself is the living Word. So the language of the holy becomes something strong and living to us. In this is the life of Scripture and the life of faith, the word of those who tell us spiritual truth, the life of John the Baptist, the teachings of Christ, the word of Moses, and the reality of the Father's word in us, prompting us to faith, to worship in spirit and in truth. So the holy things live to us and live in us. In the life of the spiritual realm, the Kingdom, all things are present all the time. And there is where we start with faith. How do we know what we know -- or rather, trust what we trust? In this is the life of faith, something present and alive, in which we hear the words of the ages in the present moment right now. It starts with love, as Jesus says here, with the love of the Father in the heart. And everything builds from there in relationships of love.