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

 

 "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 

 

At the Feast of Weeks, Jesus has healed a paralytic, and been accused of violating the Sabbath.  Moreover, the religious leaders now accuse Him of blasphemy, as He declared Himself to be Son and therefore the equal of God.  Yesterday we read that 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 explains 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.  When the Son is said to obey the Father, it explains, this refers to Christ's human will, which was assumed at His Incarnation.  Jesus freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father, and so we also 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?"  My study bible asks the question, "How could Christ's witness ever be untrue?"  It answers that it cannot (see 8:14).  Instead, Jesus anticipates the argument of the leaders, and speaks their thoughts (the same thing He does also in Luke 4:23).  In the Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  In these verses, Jesus offers four witnesses, to confirm His identity as Messiah and as Son of God:  God the Father, John the Baptist, Christ's own works, and finally the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and others gave testimony to Him.

Jesus anticipates the thinking of the religious leaders.  My study bible comments that He does so elsewhere in the Gospels (in Luke's Gospel, to be precise).  It's not the first time that John's Gospel tells us Jesus is aware of what others are thinking, that He knows the hearts of others.  It is, in effect, a repeated and expanding theme in this Gospel, and yet another capacity of Christ that identifies His identity as divine.  But today's reading also emphasizes the cooperation between the two natures of Christ, human and divine.  It gives us a picture of a human being -- Christ -- who follows God's will and must choose to do so.  Jesus' whole emphasis is on this willing and necessary cooperation, and right from the beginning.  In the first verse, He says, "I can of Myself do nothing."  Everything for Christ is dependent upon God the Father.  He says, "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."   Christ's righteous judgment is totally dependent upon the Father because He seeks the will of the Father who sent Him rather than His own will.  In effect, as human being, Christ is obedient.  He does not exercise power or authority in His own interest; instead, Christ is dependent upon the Father for power, authority, and direction.  He then offers four witnesses to the Jewish leaders, in light of the two required by the Law.  In this He also shows obedience:  His obedience to the Jewish Law.  He goes out of His way to name double the necessary witnesses.  But the witnesses to whom He refers also carry authority that is traced to God:  first, the very Person of God the Father; next, John the Baptist whose ministry is widely acknowledged as holy and serving God (even by the leadership who came for baptism by John); the works Christ does for which He has already said He is dependent upon the Father in all ways; and finally the Old Testament Scriptures, whose author is understood to be God.  All in all, our entire reading goes out of its way to establish this depth of relationship to God.  But this is not simply the relationship of Son to Father.  It is the relationship of the human Jesus in obedience to God in all ways.  His human will is subservient to the divine nature and dependent upon it in all things, and this is deliberately so.  As my study bible points out, very importantly, He is the example that you and I are to emulate and do our best to follow.  In all ways, when we prepare ourselves and our own lives for the choices we need to make, for the will or obedience we seek to follow, we would do wisely to do our best to emulate Christ.  We study the Scriptures to learn of this will.  We pray to find God's will for us.  We seek guidance in prayer to God, for our guardian angel, and with the saints, also for this reason.  We worship in corporate services so that we may enjoy and participate in this life that Christ offers us, so that we may be guided and protected within the will of the good, so that we may be "shored up" to make good choices in leading our own lives through a frequently difficult and confusing world.  There is nothing about today's extraordinary statements by Jesus that excludes our participation in the same life.  We are not Christ, we do not share the precise relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit that He does, but His guidance in sharing the experience of His human will and soul is precisely given for us, so that we may learn to share in that same life, in seeking to live the same way.  While none of us is perfect or without sin, and none of us has the fullness of identity as divine Person that Christ does, He is here for us precisely so that we can live as He does and seek to follow, and the Spirit is given to us also for just this reason.  Let us consider then, in these lofty words that define the divine Person of Christ, how they also appeal to and can be understood by us in our own lives.  How do we seek this kind of union with God?  How do we seek God's will?  How can we participate in the life of Christ as human being, Incarnate precisely so that we can join Him in this life lived for us?  Let us consider His qualities, His testimony, His way, and remember that each of us is created precisely so that we may do so.  It doesn't matter where we start.  What matters is simply our hearts and the souls that follow, where we begin, and where we choose to keep trying, and to rest in Him.  The whole point is so that we, too, can say with Christ, "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."  Whose judgment do you seek in all things -- not to judge others, but in order to live a righteous life?