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 Jesus answered the leadership in the temple 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 to 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."  In one sense, this statement sums up and emphasizes more deeply what Jesus has just said (in yesterday's reading, above).  As Christians, we understand 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.   My study bible adds, however, that when the Son is said to obey the Father, this refers to His human will, which Christ assumed at His Incarnation.  He freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father, and so 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.  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?"  Here, Jesus provides witnesses to His claim of Sonship.  He is anticipating the argument and speaking the thoughts of the Jewish leaders (as He does also in Luke 4:23).   In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  Jesus offers four witnesses confirming His identity as Messiah and as Son of God in this passage.  First He names John the Baptist ("You have sent to John. . .");  Next, His works ("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").  As His third witness, He names God the Father ("the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me").  Finally, Jesus names the Old Testament Scriptures ("You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me"), through which Moses and others gave testimony ("if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me").

Jesus names witnesses to the leadership who testify on His behalf, that He is the Son.  He begins today's passage with a clear specification that everything He does as human being -- and therefore in His earthly ministry --  is done out of obedience to God.  Jesus sets the example for us with this statement.  But then He names four witnesses with whom the leadership are intimately familiar already:  John the Baptist, the works that Jesus does, God the Father, and the Old Testament Scriptures which include the word of Moses who testifies to His coming.  Somehow we are given to understand through these words and witnesses provided by Christ that these men in the leadership are responsible for understanding the witnesses and the testimony that give evidence of Christ's identity.  That is, these all bear witnesses to the identity of Jesus as Son and Messiah.  And yet, they have failed to know Him.  They have failed to put together the witnessing testimony with the Man.  They can't truly see Him through His works, they can't hear the testimony of the Baptist, they don't recognize the One prophesied by Moses, neither do they know Him through their knowledge of God the Father.  All of this teaches us, leads us to infer, that we are all responsible for what we know and have been taught.  Surely, these men who are experts in Scripture, in the Law, and all the things of the spiritual heritage of Israel, are responsible for what they have inherited and carry as the leadership of the Jewish nation.  And yet, they fail to truly see and hear the One in front of them, they can't or won't see what His works produce and what manner of tree is indicated through the fruit He produces (Matthew 12:33).  We know that there are those among the leadership who are secretly followers of Christ at this point, such as Nicodemus (chapter 3), but as a body these men are willing only to condemn Jesus.  Yet so many among the common people do follow Jesus and suspect that He is indeed the Christ.  So why are these men so blind?  Why are they deaf to His word?  We are given one reason in the Gospels, that of envy (Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:10).   But really, all of this is a cautionary tale for us.  The story that Jesus tells us when we are given these witnesses, and He expects these men to understand Him and take the witnesses seriously, is that we ourselves must be responsible for our own hearing and understanding -- our own spiritual sight and hearing.  What we know already should not blind us to the holiness that may be around us, but rather open our eyes to it.  What we have learned already from the traditions of the Church, from our worship services, from Scripture, from prayer, from the saints, should prepare us for the immanence of God, God's presence to us.  (By the same token, it should prepare us for the discernment to understand when we are being deceived by false appearance as well.  See Matthew 7:15-20, in which Jesus also speaks of knowing people by the fruits they produce which bear witness to their character.)   Especially those who "know," who bear places of leadership in the Church, who hold themselves in some sense as those whose learning contains Scripture and tradition and spiritual knowledge, bear tremendous responsibility for discernment, for spiritual eyes and ears.  In our present time, this is the great "news" of this passage.  Our faith is living, alive, growing and working with its energies of grace all around us.  It is not meant merely for books and histories.  It is not something we memorize and codify to a set of laws or rules or customs.  Our faith is true and living, God's energies always at work in us and in the world.  We are called to be present to this work, witnesses ourselves.  Our prayer should make us more receptive, more alive to the work of God.  Let us consider, then, the responsibility to know testimony when we see or hear it, in any form in which it is given to us.  So much depends upon it.  What do we recognize, and how do we know it?