Posts
"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 has 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 yesterday's reading, Jesus answered the religious leadership (after His healing of the paralytic at the Sheep Gate). He 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." Jesus speaks again of His relationship to the Father. He indicates a complete dependence or reliance. Judgment is in alignment with the Father's will. His "obedience," says my study bible, is indicative of His human will. In this He sets an example for all of us.
"If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true." Jesus begins here an anticipation of what these authorities will ask Him. They need witnesses to His claims, and they will not accept His own witness. The "charge" is making Himself equal with God. Is His witness to Himself true or false?
"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 requires two witnesses (see Deuteronomy 17:6). Jesus will give four. Here, Jesus presents His first witness, John the Baptist. In chapter 3, we read of the Baptist's testimony to Jesus as Bridegroom, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." Earlier, he had directed his disciples to Christ. We note Jesus' praise of John the Baptist as a witness to truth: "He was 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 that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who has 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 works that Jesus does - the seven signs in John's Gospel (so far we have read of turning the water to wine at the wedding in Cana, the healing of the nobleman's son, and the healing of the paralytic at the Sheep Gate) -- testify to the truth of what He says about Himself. They bear witness to His unity with the Father. They are another witness. Yet another is the Father Himself. There are those will hear His voice, but these men are not among them. And here is an important understanding of truth as Jesus speaks of it -- without a love of God within themselves, they are unable to "hear." They do not cherish the word; they will not respond to His word with love. Everything implied is about a depth of relationship.
"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." Here is another witness, the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and other witnesses have given testimony. These men are supposed to be the experts.
"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?" Here is a key to the refusal of the life in His words: so much depends on what they, His hearers, love and respect. And the contrast is given here, as it is elsewhere, between the love of God and love of the honor from other "men." Where is glory? And what do we love? These are the two crucial questions Jesus presents us with. They can't truly believe Moses, else they would understand Him.
Jesus speaks about relationship: His relationship with the Father, and the relatedness of those who can truly "hear" and receive His word, as given by the Father, as given to Moses -- that fills the Scripture and the hearts of those who love God. There is no getting away from relationship. Truth and relationship are intimately bound up in Jesus' teachings. Everything depends on what is first in the heart, what we love deeply within ourselves. Is it the glory of the world that we love most, or the glory of God? The Scriptures contrast the two, and always ask us to make a choice. What do we love most? What do we love first? What's going to take priority within us? We really have to pay attention. The Gospels, and all of the Old Testament Scripture, ask this question over and over again in one form or another. But Jesus takes it to another level. Love and truth are intertwined. Everything starts with relationship. The ability to recognize, to know another, comes from a basic inner decision. He promises elsewhere, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). In Mark's Gospel, He tells His disciples, "There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30). Those who preach an utterly syncretic kind of faith, in which a love of God necessarily means an absolutely trouble-free life, give us a false picture of the challenge Christ speaks about here. He always asks us to make a choice, to put one thing first. It may add tremendous benefits and blessings to us, but there is always going to be a choice. Everything depends on what we love first, and truth is entirely connected up in relationship. A love of truth is perhaps the greatest asset we have, in the point of view presented to us in these Gospels. It enables us to really see and to know. To love truth begins with an even deeper relationship of love with the author of truth, the One who is truth. It's like a basic chord deep within us that vibrates through everything else, the way that sound and voice truly work. Let us consider life and the word, what He truly gives us. What means most to you?
