How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

 "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 healing the paralytic on a Sabbath) Jesus answered and said to the Jerusalem leadership in the temple, "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 says here that the divine will is common to the three Persons of the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- for all fully share the same divine nature.  When we read that the Son obeys the Father, this is referring to Christ's human will, assumed at His Incarnation.  He freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father.  As He is our Teacher, we are called to "Follow Him" and 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?"   My study bible tells us that Jesus is anticipating the argument and speaking the thoughts of the religious leaders (as He does in Luke 4:23).   In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  Here, Jesus offers four witnesses in order to confirm His identity as Messiah and as Son of God.  The first is God the Father, the second is John the Baptist.   As third witness, He offers His own works, and finally the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and others gave testimony.

It seems to me that a key component of Jesus' discourse in today's reading is found in the following remarks, made just after Jesus cites the leaders' diligent and constant searches of the Scriptures, in which they believe they have eternal life.  He notes that the Scriptures speak of Himself.  He then tells them, "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?"   This failure to know Him, to understand Him, to believe Him, runs through the entire discourse.  There is a contrast between the worldly perspective, in which the understanding only of worldly honor ("honor from men") is contrasted with the love of God.  That is, the preference for the honor that God gives to the honor that comes from other human beings.  Everything comes down to the first great commandment, the love of God with all one's heart and soul and mind (Matthew 22:37-38).  On this point, Jesus is not only entirely consistent, but with these men, He shows us an example of what the failure to honor this first and greatest commandment does in us.  We lose the plot, we replace love of God with other priorities, whether we do so intentionally or not.  We place other gods before us, because this is the nature of what it is to be human beings.  Moreover, we are unable to recognize when God is at work in our lives, or those through whom God is working.  Our capacity for worship must be fulfilled in a proper way, otherwise we place first something different in the place of that primary love.  It becomes a  key question in our choices and our psychological and spiritual well-being.  We fail to perceive properly without it, and it sets up for us a proper relationship to the world as well.  It is with this perception that Jesus adds, "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?"  Finally, we must take note of this statement:  "Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved."   Here is the fullness of the mission of Christ, the meaning of the Incarnation.  Everything He does, He does not do to condemn, but to save.  He tells these men the truth about themselves and their mistaken perspectives in order to save them.  These are His words and His aim, plainly and clearly stated.  Even those who would condemn Him, He has come to save.  But can they hear His words?  Will they choose to do so?   With His own questions ("How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?"), He seems to reflect the psychological and spiritual impossibility that they will hear what He is telling them, that they will receive what He says and does to save them.  Let us consider our own places.  What can we hear?  What do we understand?  His saving mission continues.  Will we take it up and participate in the life He offers?  What do we put first before all things as the most precious truth we have?