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

 "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

Yesterday, we read that after He was accused of breaking the Sabbath, and also of making Himself equal to God (blasphemy),  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."  My study bible tells us that the divine will of God is common to the three Persons of the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- because all fully share the same divine nature.  When the Son is said to obey the Father, we understand this is referring to His human will, which He assumed at His Incarnation.  Christ freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father -- and set us an example 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.  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?"  Jesus anticipates the thoughts and arguments of the leadership in the temple when He says, "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true."  (See also Luke 4:23, where He does the same thing.)    In Jewish law, two witnesses were required for a valid testimony (Deuteronomy 17:6).  Here, Jesus offers four witnesses, confirming His identity as Messiah and Son of God.  The first witness He offers is God the Father, the second is John the Baptist, the third His own works which the Father has given Him to do, and the fourth the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and others gave testimony. 

In the midst of giving testimony and witnesses to His identity, Jesus makes the following statement to the leadership in the temple:  "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?"  Jesus is making a very clear distinction here between the honor that comes from men and the love of God.  He frequently seems to be saying that while we may be buoyed by the favorable regard of society around us, we must not confuse it with the honor that comes from loving God.  In fact, one can completely contradict the other.  Jesus' unimpeachable witnesses are not those that these men of high distinction and title perhaps would like Him to call.  There is no expert in the Law here, there is no famous rabbi whom Jesus calls to testify on His behalf.  Instead, Jesus' witnesses are those that are firmly rooted in the love of God and the depth of such loving relationship.  Furthermore, to discern the testimony of these particular witnesses, one must truly love God as well.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus made the clear statement that to refuse the Son is to refuse the Father.  We either see the Father in the Son, or we fail to love and know the Father.   These may all seem like drastic pronouncements on the part of Christ, or harsh judgments, but the truth is that these same men which He elsewhere accuses of the worst forms of hypocrisy will come to exemplify what He's talking about.  They will seek to put Him to death, going against their own laws to do so.  They fail to see the good He has done in healing the man by the Sheep Gate on the Sabbath; they will persecute Jesus for doing good on the Sabbath to heal human beings.  They fail to distinguish the love of God in the healing and wholeness of human beings, the works that Christ does.  And when it comes down to the failure to heal, and the purpose of the murder of an innocent, then we are no longer talking about a "harsh judgment."  We are talking about the very real fruits of the failure to truly love God, and to pay attention only to the "honor that comes from men."  If we look around ourselves, we may find what we consider rather harmless fixations on the "honor that comes from men."  We may know many people who seem quite decent but who have love nor need for God.  These are small examples which we can't necessarily judge nor discern; to look into another's heart is truly the business of God.  But to place all our values in what society says or think or dictates is to lose track of who we really are.  It becomes a failure to find oneself in the love of God and the love that teaches us and embraces us in return.  It is to fail to know that true depth of love, and it becomes the failure to know a true depth of identity.  We find harshness and violence in the society where it fails to discern love and truth and true meanings.  We find condemnation in those who cannot love what is different from what the social rules dictate.  Let us always remember who loves us best and wants what is best for us -- regardless of the social rules of who can do what and when they can do it.  Let us remember where we truly find the One who knows our heart and loves us so completely that we are given everything in return for our love.