If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing

 

 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  

 

Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  

 

Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus his Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 

- John 8:47-59 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles, an autumn festival which commemorates the time Israel wandered in tents, or tabernacles. It is the final and great day of that feast, which takes place in the final year of Christ's earthly life.  He has been disputing with the religious authorities.  Yesterday we read that they answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.  How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.  I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."  They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."  Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.  But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this.  You do the deeds of your father."  Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God."  Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word.  You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which of you convicts Me of sin?  And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

 

  "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Here we must pause to recall that by the time of the writing of the Gospel of John, the followers of Jesus were persecuted in the synagogues.  Therefore, when we read the term "the Jews" in John's Gospel, we are to understand its use as a type of political term, to designate the leaders or religious rulers in the temple.  It is not meant to indicate the Jewish people (the author of this Gospel was also a Jew, as was Jesus and the rest of the people in the stories we're reading).  That is the case throughout today's reading.  Here, the religious rulers, unable to defeat Christ in dispute through logic or truth, resort to personal insult.  (See also John 9:34.)

Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." Again, Jesus turns to His relationship to the Father, and the words He speaks which come from the Father.  It is important that we understand Christ's repeated emphasis on this deepest of relationships, for it is also a model for ourselves.  In yesterday's reading (above), Jesus alluded to the adoption which is possible through faith:  "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."  Here again, He speaks of this adoption through faith into the life He offers.

Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Again, John's Gospel works through dispute and particularly the misunderstandings that accompany Jesus' teaching.  He uses "earthly" terms to indicate heavenly or spiritual realities, for which one must have "ears to hear" and understand.  The religious rulers dispute Him through their own understanding, opening the door to more of His teaching in response.

 

 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."   Jesus returns to His relationship to the Father, and also the righteousness of Abraham, which was accounted to faith (Genesis 15:6).  It is this capacity for faith, which comes from the love of God in the heart, to which Jesus points in Abraham, whom these religious leaders consider to be their patriarch, their "father."  As Jesus has already offered various witnesses to His identity (John 5:31-47, 8:14-18), here He also offers Abraham.

Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus his Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.  This statement of Christ, calling Himself by this term, I AM, is using the divine name of God from the Old Testament (in Greek εγω ειμι/ego eimi).  This Name was first revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15).  My study Bible comments that to these religious leaders (and those who understand the language of the Scriptures) this is a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God, as is made clear by their reaction here.  (See also Mark 14:62-64.)  It notes that John places special emphasis on the use of this Name to clearly reveal Christ as God.  Such a divine claim also illuminates Christ's authority even over death, as He has asserted above ("Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death").  This is a power which belongs only to God the Father.

Yet again, as we have been over the past several readings, we must be impressed by Christ's example of fidelity to God.  In today's reading, He begins with a kind of indictment of the religious leaders, declaring to their faces, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Imagine saying that to a religious hierarch, one instructed with the care of the people in the temple, the place where worship of the only God was to be upheld and regulated.  But He says to their faces that they don't love God.  If they did, it follows, they could hear Him, listen to Him, for Jesus is sent by God, and says only what He is taught to say.  Jesus says, "I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges."  In all things, Jesus puts Himself last and the Father first, and this is the One whom He serves in His ministry.  This the One whom these leaders truly cannot hear, and do not obey, because they do not have the love of God deep in themselves.  And it is God who will judge them.  Again Jesus turns to the subject of honor, and what we honor with our hearts, our being, and our actions:  "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God."  In other words, He speaks from the honor of the Father, not of Himself, and if He speaks of Himself in a particular way, it's because the Father has declared it so.  It is reminiscent of Christ's criticism of the Pharisees and scribes in Matthew 23.  In verses 16-22, Jesus criticizes their acceptance of oaths sworn by the gold on the altar, in the end saying to them, "He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  What He insists upon is similar to His insistence that it is the honor shone by God that gives value; in the case of the oath practices He criticizes it is similar:  it is God who makes the honor and gives the value, and this is true even of the identity of Christ.  If Jesus can use the Name, the I AM, it is because of His relationship with the Father.  So let us simply pause here and take in Jesus' words, and think about our own spirituality, and the meanings in our lives.  Who are we?  How are we called?  What do our prayers say to us, and about us?  What is it that we seek?  The yardstick for all things is this primary relatedness to God, this "consuming fire" with which we seek union in the heart, in prayer, in worship.  That is the place where we go for answers to questions about our lives and ourselves, what we need, what we should value, and all else follows that.  This is what Jesus teaches us.  What is it that we honor?  What gives our words value?  We know what Jesus says here.  What do we find when we follow His example?