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"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 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 our current reading, Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks, a time that commemorates the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai, and is also a festival of the spring wheat harvest. He has healed a paralytic man, telling him to "Rise, take up your bed and walk." The temple authorities question Him because it is considered unlawful to carry burdens on the Sabbath. Yesterday, He said to them, "Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 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. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 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, my study bible tells us that the divine will is common to the three Persons of the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All fully share in the same divine nature. It says, "When the Son is said to obey the Father, this refers to His human will, which Christ assumed at His Incarnation. Christ freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father, and we are called to do likewise."
"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." Jesus begins to name witnesses to His authority and identity. Who is Lord of the Sabbath? Everything rests on this question. His first witness is John the Baptist, whom He calls "the burning and shining lamp" in whose light they were willing for a time to rejoice.
"But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works 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 come sin 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?" In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witness, says my study bible, citing Deuteronomy 17:6. Here Jesus presents four witnesses on His behalf. My study bible points out that He's anticipating the argument of the leaders, and notes that He does the same thing in Luke 4:23. The witnesses that Jesus names are John the Baptist; God the Father; Jesus' own works; and the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and others gave testimony.
Jesus gives witnesses about Himself in today's testimony. But we're left in a place where witnesses count in terms of the shared spirit of each of them, something that they have in common. It's a hint of recognition at work in today's reading, in the sense that Jesus tells the leadership: "You do not have the love of God in you." Everything else falls forward from that. It's the love of God that allows first for recognition of the Father, and thus One who comes in the name of the Father. It's the love of God that's going to give people the ability to recognize John the Baptist as a burning and shining lamp, and would lead one to rejoice in his light. Without the love of God, could one really appreciate Moses and what he did, what he gave, his journey, and life story? The Scriptures all speak of God, but where would we be in our appreciation of Scripture without the love of God? How much, how crucially and substantially much, would we be missing in our appreciation and benefit? Without the love of God, there's not much else here to recognize, to know and understand, to learn. Every witness is essential, but every witness is understood and valued according to the love of God. Perhaps that's a reason why this testimony to Christ's divinity and Messiahship doesn't really make the strong impact it should on these leaders. There's something lacking inside to start with, a set of priorities that are missing in some sense, or perhaps put second in the rank and order of things that matter to them. Jesus asks another essential question here: "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?" There's another point here, essential to our understanding of ourselves and of our relationship to God: from where do we receive honor? What's most important to us? It shows relationship to Jesus' earlier words about judgment (in yesterday's reading). Is God's "vision" important to us? Do we care what God thinks? After all, we tend to honor those whom we love, or who are tied to what we love. So the question of the love of God comes back to us. Which honor really matters? Whose honor do we care about? Jesus could present a great deal of witnesses here, but all of it rests on relationship, in the end. What do we love? Or respect? What is important to us? From where does our own sense of honor come? It all starts in the heart, in our hearts. The rest becomes extraneous if that foundation doesn't exist. So we look to ourselves to understand the things of God, to recognize this Messiah. What do we find we really love? What honor is really the most essential?
