I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me

 

 "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 hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 

- John 8:47-59 

 

We are currently reading through the section of St. John's Gospel which reports events at the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), an autumn festival.  This is an eight day festival which commemorates the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness, following Moses to the Promised Land.  The many ceremonies and commemorations are reflected as a backdrop to Christ's teachings, and His Incarnation as fulfillment of them.  In our recent readings, Jesus has been disputing with the religious leaders in the temple at Jerusalem.  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?"  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."  We should first remember that in St. John's Gospel, the term the Jews most frequently refers to the religious leaders, and not the people.  These men with whom Jesus disputes are unable to defeat Jesus through logic or truth.  They are by now His personal enemies who seek to put Him to death.  They now resort to personal insult, a tactic they will use again on the one whom Jesus will subsequently heal in the sixth sign of seven in the Gospel (see John 9:34).  Let us note, importantly, that once again Christ's emphasis is on the proper notion of honor, and from Whom it must come ("I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me"; "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing").  He connects both honor and glory to true judgment, the discernment that comes from God ("I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges").

 

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 hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.   When Jesus says, "I AM," He is repeating the divine name of God revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15).  We should recall once again that the Feast of Tabernacles commemorates the events of the Exodus. My study Bible comments that, to the Jews, this was a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God, as can be seen from their response.  Additionally, it notes that St. John places special emphasis on the use of this Name to clearly reveal Christ as God.  This divine claim, it says, illuminates Christ's authority even over death, a power which belongs only to God the Father.  

 

As we have repeatedly observed, Jesus continually returns to His relationship to the Father; that is, His obedience and love.  In today's reading, He speaks of giving honor.  As runs through the entirety of the Holy Bible, what we truly believe is what we live; that is, what we do.   What Jesus says He actually does in today's reading is to honor the Father.  This is not a question of a feeling or emotion or intellectual choice.  It is the way He lives; it sets out a pattern in all that He actually does.  Jesus says to their accusation that He has a demon, "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."  In these actions of honoring and dishonoring, each shows who they truly are.  Jesus is one who honors God the Father.  These religious leaders at the same time dishonor Him.  And what they do in dishonoring Him also dishonors the Father; they are expressing their dishonor to One who is obedient to the Father in all things.  It's an important concept to grasp, because it tells us about holiness.  Can we honor it where we encounter it, or where we see it?  Jesus expresses a similar theme when He teaches His disciples, "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward" (Matthew 10:40-42).  To receive one who comes in His name is to receive Him, to honor Him.  To receive or honor one in the name of a prophet is to find the reward which belongs to a prophet.  The same is true of a righteous man.  Finally, even to give only a cup of cold water to one of His "little ones" in the name of a disciple is also to reap a reward.  There is a thread, a spirit that runs through all which originates with the Father, and is continued through our own actions of honoring (or dishonoring, as the case may be).   A similar theme was also expressed by Jesus in yesterday's reading, when He spoke of what truly constituted being a child or son of Abraham.  He told the religious leaders, "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" (see yesterday's reading, above).  So, therefore, to be a child of Abraham comes from doing the things Abraham did; that is, to honor God as Abraham did.  Our actions express what we honor and love, where our loyalty really is.  Jesus expresses this principle as a teaching, when He declares, "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  To keep His word is to honor Him.  This He then emphasizes when He claims, in relation to God the Father, "I do know Him and keep His word." Let us consider, also, how we honor Christ in our own lives, and all the ways in which we may do that, day by day.