God is not the God of the dead, but of the living

 

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

 

- Matthew 22:23-33 

 

On Saturday we read that the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  But Jesus perceive their wickedness, and said, 'Why do you test Me, you hypcrites?  Show Me the tax money."  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  they said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

 

  The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  My study Bible comments here that Christ confirms there will be a resurrection, but not of the kind these Sadducees are imagining.  They consider the resurrection as a continuation of earthly life (including earthly marriage), and so they mock this doctrine with an absurd scenario.  But they're ignorant of the Scriptures, which reveal a complete transformation of life in the resurrection, and therefore make their questions irrelevant.  Moreover, they also fail to understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even when they are physically dead.  It's the clear teaching of Christ, my study Bible adds, that the souls of the faithful who have left this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection. 

 

 We first of all might look at this scene in today's reading as one that exemplifies for us a type of common problem.  That is, the problem with many who criticize Christianity without first understanding its basic principles, or having only a very fragmented or uninformed knowledge about it.  Jesus here uses the elements of faith to express to these men, who form an important class of the ruling parties in Jerusalem, that they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.   For, through the power of God, "in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven."  Moreover, the Scriptures clearly reveal this in God's word to Moses, when God revealed Himself to Moses in the mystery of the burning bush, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6).  So, from the story in today's Gospel passage, we may see quite clearly how even those nominally of our faith may remain ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God.  For it takes not simply a smattering of knowledge of Scripture nor even of a basic sense of what our faith declares to truly have insight and understanding of Christ and what He offers to us.  We read Scripture in a particular way, and we come to know the power of God also through a particular kind of understanding and of faith.  We might first need to understand that the Sadducees formed a particular ruling class among those who led the temple and formed the ruling Council of the Jews.  According to my study Bible, they were a type of aristocratic body, forming a high priestly and landowning class, which controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  For their Scriptures they held only the first five books of what we call the Old Testament; that is, the Torah or Pentateuch.  In contrast to the Pharisees, they rejected belief in angels, the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the dead.  After the destruction of the city and temple in the Siege of Jerusalem (in AD 70), they disappeared as a class.  So what we might first conjecture from both this scenario they present to Jesus, and also from what we know of their beliefs, they had a very materialistic approach to faith and their vision of responsibility to God.  That is, their focus was the Law and their inherited duties, positions, and properties.  They also were politically prudent, and and adapted to the presence of the Romans.  Today we live in a very secular culture, where it is possible to have a bare understanding of the values of Christian faith, and criticize on a mistaken or highly uninformed basis.  It's entirely possible to have Scripture quoted and distorted without this understanding or insight that comes from tradition and spiritual or theological understanding.  If we fail to accept the spiritual basis for much of Christ's and the Church's teachings, we will fail to understand Scripture and the Gospels.  Perhaps most powerfully, we will miss the transfiguration of the Cross, the power of Christ's Resurrection, and what it means to be offered eternal life.  Many people separate beliefs into a kind of "two-story world," to use a phrase borrowed from Fr. Stephen Freeman (who writes this blog), and so fail to understand the interconnection of spiritual reality and worldly reality, which is in fact the point of the mysteries and sacraments of faith, and to which the life of Christ points us.  Perhaps the most important focus we take from today's reading is how we can be distracted from true spiritual or theological understanding by an exclusive focus on rules, material life, and the power inherent in position and property.  Whatever way a materialistic perspective forms, with an exclusive focus only on the worldly and to the exclusion of the reality of spiritual life pointed to in Scripture, we will be missing a lot and lacking in understanding of our faith.  Neither will we have insight into Christ's teachings. As we head toward the celebration of Christ's Nativity, let consider the ways in which nominal belief in Christ can still fall short of the depth of beauty and the transformational power of faith, and the reality of the soul.  Wherever we are in our spiritual lives, let us seek to welcome Christ more truly into our hearts, where He can open our eyes more deeply to what is real and what matters for our lives.  For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.  We need to consider what that really means, and all the "life" that Christ offers to fill the here and now.

 

 

 

 

He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God

 

 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 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."

 

- John 8:33-47 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus is at the autumn festival the Feast of Tabernacles.  He has been disputing with the authorities in the temple in Jerusalem, who have unsuccessfully attempted to have Him arrested.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

 

  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."  Christ speaks of Himself as Son, the Second Person of the Trinity.  In His divine identity, He shares power that no other before Him has had as human being.  Therefore in His role as Messiah, the Son can make us children by adoption, conferring a kind of liberation that the law could not.  

"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 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."  My study Bible comments here that to be a child of Abraham, it is not enough to be simply related by blood  Instead, the true children of Abraham share his faithfulness and his virtue (Luke 3:8).  According to St. John Chrysostom, the Lord wanted to detach these religious leaders and their followers from racial pride -- to teach them no longer to place their hope of salvation in being of the race of Abraham's children by nature.  Instead He encourages them to come to faith by their own free will.  Their notion that being a descendant of Abraham was enough for salvation was the very thing that prevented them from coming to Christ. 

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."  My study Bible says that proceeded refers not to the Son coming eternally from the Father, but to Christ being sent from the Father to His Incarnation on earth.  

"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."  My study Bible notes that just as being a child of Abraham is based on sharing Abraham's attributes (of faithfulness and virtue), so likewise, those who reject Christ are sharing the same attributes as the devil.  In particular, this involves a hatred for truth.  Therefore, they are rightly called the devil's children.  

 

Jesus says, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."   There's a very significant distinction being made here; that of those who choose to embrace and participate in what are called the "energies" of God, and those who choose otherwise.  In teachings of the period of Jesus (and especially in the Didache, the oldest teaching document known to us in the Church), there is the teaching that is known as the "two ways."  There is the way of life, and the way of death.  This teaching was also a part of Jewish tradition; see, for example, Jeremiah 21:8.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  The way of life is also the way of truth.  As we discussed in yesterday's commentary, this truth of Christ isn't only a simple declaration of true statements or theories or intellectual concepts.  But as Jesus says of Himself, He is the Person who is truth.  "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  As the Son Incarnate, He has come into this world to show us the Father (which we can see in Him), to give us the truth, and to give us Himself, for in Him is life that is our light (John 1:4).   Therefore, Christ Himself is the way of life.  So, therefore, if we abide in His word, as He has said, then we will come to know the truth indeed, living, real, the banishment of illusion, of lies, and ultimately of death.  For it is the one who opposes this life and this truth that is the father of lies, as Jesus says in today's reading.  "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."  When we choose to worship Christ, we choose to participate in His energies, and thereby to make a choice for truth.  This is a dynamic and active way of being, and something that works in us through our faith, and through our faithfulness.  When Jesus speaks of being true children of Abraham, this is what He means, that we can only truly be children of Abraham if we are faithful as Abraham was faithful.  Genesis 15:6 says of Abraham, "And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness."  It is this righteousness, the righteousness of faithfulness, abiding in the word of the Lord, that Jesus calls us to, that He calls these religious leaders to, but they cannot receive it.  There has to be a deep and even fearless commitment to truth to embrace the kind of faithfulness that Jesus is all about.  The true freedom He would claim and offer to all of us is in this freedom to love the truth above all, to abide in His word, and to refuse the lies of the devil that deceive and mislead, leading to slavery and death.  For when we would deny ourselves that union of faithfulness to true existence, to choose instead an easy belief in convenient lies, the delusion of complaisance with deception and manipulation, the "safe" road of living a lie, then we refuse life itself for a kind of slavery to what is not ultimately real, because it's not rooted in God.  Think of the complacency of those who would go along with the plan to eliminate Jesus for the safety of not rocking the boat -- for to embrace truth is often to forgo a worldly ease.  But our God is the God of love who loves us and wants to lead us to life, even eternal life with Him.  Let us remember the two ways and choose the one that offers us what truly exists, the way of life.  Let us always hear His words and cherish what we have in Him.

 

Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM

 

 "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 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  It is an eight-day harvest festival in autumn, and this is now in the final year of Christ's earthly life.  He has been disputing in the temple with the religious leaders, who have already tried and failed to have Him arrested.  In yesterday's reading, 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 if 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?"  The conversation here continues from the dispute in yesterday's reading (above).  We recall that the term "the Jews" is most often used in John's Gospel to denote the religious leadership.  All the people in our present passages are Jews, including Jesus, as well as the author of the Gospel.  Here, these religious leaders, who by now have chosen to be enemies of Christ, are unable to defeat Him through logic or truth, and so resort to personal insult ("Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?").

 

 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?"  Once again, Jesus speaks of His own witness, who is the Father.  It is the Father who honor Him.  And He claims to these leaders that they don't know the One they claim is their God. 

 

 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.   Jesus has repeatedly emphasized to these religious leaders His deep connection with the Father, who has put all things in His hands, from whom all the words He speaks come, whom He pleases in all things.  Here the term I AM  (in Greek, ego eimi) is clear and explicit as the divine Name of God in the Old Testament, as first revealed revealed to Moses at the burning bush (see Exodus 3:13-15).  My study Bible comments that to the Jewish religious leaders (and perhaps all who hear), this is a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God, which is evident from their reaction (Then they took up stones to throw at Him); see also Mark 14:62-64.  My study Bible adds that John places special emphasis on the use of this Name in order to clearly reveal Christ as God.  It notes that this divine claim illuminates Christ's authority even over death (verse 52), a power which belongs only to God the Father.

Once again, as He has over the past several readings, Jesus emphasizes His closeness with the Father.  Everything He has, and everything He is, stems from the Father.  Jesus' judgment is true because He is not alone, but with the Father (John 8:16).  If they would know Him, they would know the Father (John 8:19).  Every word He speaks comes from the Father and is pleasing to the Father (John 8:26).  He does nothing of Himself, but seeks only to please the Father (John 8:29).  He says to be His disciple, to abide in His word given to Him by the Father, would make them free; He is the Son, and "if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).  They cannot hear nor believe Him, because they don't love God, and He is sent from God (John 8:42-47).  In today's reading, however, Jesus takes this all a giant leap forward, and enraging these enemies among the religious leaders even more, when He tells them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  This I AM is the divine Name of God.  It is also known as the Tetragrammaton (meaning "Four Letters" in Greek), which we read in our English language Bibles as YHWH, and pronounce "Yahweh" (Exodus 3:13-15).  This I AM is the Lord of the Old Testament, and Jesus has just explicitly stated that He identifies with the I AM.   As my study Bible explains this is unmistakable to the religious leaders, an unmistakable statement of equality with God.  But it's more than equality; He has declared His union with God in all things, but here He declares that He, in fact, is God.  In our Christian understanding through the apostles and all the Scriptures, we understand this divinity of Jesus, the inseparable nature of Father, Son, and Spirit.  But we can see what an astonishing statement this is to the outraged leaders, as they simply seek to stone Him to death on the spot.  But we should take with us the understanding that this is a great and profound mystery revealed.  How can the Son also be God with the Father?  And later, as all three Persons of the Trinity work in divine unity, the "Helper," the Holy Spirit will be sent by the Father in the Son's name, and will teach Christ's disciples, bringing to remembrance all things He has said to them.  This is a promise that stands the test of time ongoing for the life of the Trinity, of the divine Persons, is now and always and ever shall be -- intersecting and working within our time, establishing the Kingdom among and within us, and in an eternal sense offering us to share that life.  For the moment, let us consider all of Christ's words pertaining to His unity with the Father, and culminating with the amazing statement that "before Abraham was, I AM," because it is the ultimate key to who Christ is for us.   For He remains the "I AM," the One eternally present, always with us, the One to whom we turn, the only One to worship, and who is love. 

 

 

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

 

 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 if 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."

 

- John 8:33–47 

 

In our current readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles, an autumn harvest festival.  He teaches and preaches daily in the temple, and has been disputing with the religious leaders.  They have tried unsuccessfully to arrest Him.  It is the final year of Christ's earthly life.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

 

 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."  Jesus continues the discussion regarding His statement from yesterday's reading (above), "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  Here He makes the further distinction regarding the nature of sin, and its enslaving effect.  Freedom comes in the truth of Christ, which permeates and supersedes all things, for it comes from the Father.  Here He emphasizes further His communion with the Father.  As the Son, all things are committed into His hands (John 3:35); and Christ is entirely loyal to the Father ("I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him" from yesterday's reading, above).  Therefore, as Son, He has the capacity to make us free.

"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."   My study Bible comments here that to be a child of Abraham, it is not enough to be simply related by blood.  Instead, Abraham's true children share Abraham's faith and virtue (Luke 3:8).  It cites St. John Chrysostom, who teaches that our Lord wanted to detach the Jews from racial pride and to teach them no longer to place their hope of salvation in being of the race of Abraham's children by nature, but to come to faith by their own free will.  St. Chrysostom comments that their notion that being a descendant of Abraham was enough for salvation was the very thing that prevented them from coming to Christ.  

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."  Here, my study Bible explains, proceeded refers not to the Son coming eternally from the Father, but to Christ being sent from the Father to His Incarnation on earth.  

 

"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 if 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."   My study Bible remarks that just as being a child of Abraham is based on sharing Abraham's attributes, so likewise, those who reject Christ share the same attributes as the devil (in particular, a hatred for truth), and so are therefore rightly called the devil's children.

In today's reading, Jesus' words imply that there is really no neutral ground when it comes to the heart and its love -- or lack of love -- for God.  This is also not separable from a basic attitude toward truth, starting with spiritual truth.  Jesus says that these religious leaders are "not able to listen to My word."  Let us understand that the powerful men to whom He speaks are those religious leaders of Israel, who are among the most learned in the Scriptures and the whole of Jewish spiritual history.  The Pharisees spend their time poring over the Scriptures; the chief priests are responsible for the maintenance of the temple and its practices.  And yet, Jesus says that they cannot understand His speech.  He gives His conclusion and explanation for this:  "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 if 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."  The conclusion is stark, and we can understand it clearly as Christ voices it.  What is it that draws us away from God, and keeps us from drawing toward communion with God?  If we accept that this communion is our true natural state -- that is, it is the condition of creation before sin entered the world, to be as Adam and Eve were in communion with God -- then the broken communion (or what is referred to as a "fallen" state) is actually not natural to us, but unnatural.  As human beings we are made for worship, and have a natural capacity for doing so.  But other things draw us away, such as Jesus illustrates in His explanation in the parable of the Sower and those within whom the seed of His word fails to take root and produce (Matthew 13:18-23).  Using those things He shares in the parable that inhibit the taking root and growth of the word, we read of the "wicked one" who snatches away the word from a person's heart, those who have no root in themselves for the word and so stumble when tribulation or persecution arise.  There are those for whom "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word," and so they become "unfruitful."  If we look closely, each of these things comes from "the evil one" in one way or another, and the word in the heart that was snatched away was attributed directly to the devil by Jesus.  So, what He describes is an activity in the world by that which is opposed to God, and therefore also to the Son, and all that is under the yoke of God and what we might call "godliness" or holiness.  We also find examples in the Gospels of evil action in the world, especially in the story of the demoniac possessed by a legion of demons (Mark 5:1-20).  But here, what we find is the nihilistic nature of the demons.  That is, they're very destructive, but they create nothing.  True essence or substance belong to God, and so -- at best -- the "evil one" can seek to tear down the good, but cannot create true power of its own.  And there perhaps we find the heart of the matter.  What we seek is the truth Christ offers us, at the depth and breadth of life He offers, the Son who receives all from the Father, who also sends us the Spirit.  Evil can choke us with cares, distract us with concerns of the world, put stumbling blocks in our way.  But the desire for truth in the heart is, in Christ's words here, the real foundation we need for our faith and for grace to find us.  Let us seek the ground of the truth of His word, and the freedom it brings.  For even the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the rock of faith He can build in us.  Jesus describes the nature and work of the devil:  "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."  The devil is the origin of lies.  Jesus asks, "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."  Let us look to the heart which loves truth; let His truth be our treasure.

 

 

 

God is not the God of the dead, but of the living

 

 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said to that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. 

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

 

- Matthew 22:23–40 

 

We are currently following the events of Holy Week.  Jesus has entered the holy city in His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  He has cleansed the temple, and been subject to questioning from the religious leaders as to His authority to do so.  He has responded with two parables:  one declaring Himself to be the stone the builders rejected; the other about the wedding garment and the wedding of Christ the Bridegroom and His Bride the Church.  Yesterday we read that, after this, the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.  And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.  Tell us, therefore, what do You think?  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?  Show Me the tax money."  So they brought Him a denarius.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

 

  The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said to that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  Christ tells the Sadducess, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God."  Here my study Bible says that Christ confirms that there will be a resurrection, but not of the sort the Sadducees are imagining.  The Sadducees, for whom only the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch, or Torah) were held as sacred, and who formed a type of landowning aristocracy around Jerusalem, neither believed in an afterlife, nor in angels.  They consider the resurrection to be a continuation of earthly life (including marriage), and so they are mocking the doctrine of resurrection with what my study Bible calls an absurd scenario.  But, as Christ tells them, they are ignorant of the Scriptures -- which reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection.  Therefore, such an "earthly" question is irrelevant to the understanding of what resurrection is.  Moreover, they can't understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.   My study Bible declares that it is the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of the faithful who have departed life in this world are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection. 

 

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."   My study Bible informs us that the Pharisees had fond 613 commandments in the Scriptures and debated about which one was central.  Here Jesus teaches the first and the second -- constituting the grand summary of the Law.  Although this lawyer has come with malice to test the Lord, my study Bible points out that in St. Mark's account, this man is converted by Christ's answer (see Mark 12:28-34).  It's also noted here that the second commandment should be understood as written:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself -- or more clearly, "as being yourself."  It's often misinterpreted to read "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself."  But this destroys the force of the statement, my study Bible says.  How much we love ourselves isn't the standard by which Christ calls us to love others.  Instead, we're called to love our neighbor as being of the same nature as we are; that is, created in God's image and likeness just as we are.  Patristic commentary teaches us that we find our true self in loving our neighbor.

In our recent readings, Jesus has spoken of the "wedding garment" (in the parable of the Wedding Feast), and how those without the proper garment (supplied by the King; that is, in the parable, God) will not be allowed to attend.  This wedding garment, given by the King, has been explained by my study Bible as first, one's baptismal garment, but beyond that, "a life of faith, repentance, virtue, and charity."  That is, it is woven from what we have done in our lives, particularly if we have lived faithfully, prayerfully.  This corresponds to the soul.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus was quizzed about the tax money, in an effort to trap Him by the Pharisees.  He pointed to Caesar's image on the coin of the tax money, and said, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  But this must not be understood as separating life into two aspects of sacred and secular:  rather, all of life belongs to God, and we can render our due responsibility to the state without losing our connection to God.  The conflict comes when the state or other organization asks of us that which is contrary to God. Thus, the wedding garment, or the soul, our connection to God, is important to us all the time.  Here in today's reading, concerning the resurrection, there remains this sense about the soul.  But Christ teaches us about the transformation that happens in resurrection.  Jesus teaches the Sadducess about those in the resurrection:  "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven."  But then He adds an even more significant teaching:  "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."   It is said that all life is in the hands of God and is sustained by God.  In this respect, it is the soul that contains our connection with God; therefore God has to be as Jesus says, the God of the living.  In a sense, this question and teaching following on the parable of the Wedding Feast Jesus gave earlier, says something essential about how we understand life.  We seek to preserve and sustain our souls, because this is our connection with God, our depth of connection to life itself.  If the soul perishes, then we lose our connection with God, our hope of the eternal life of resurrection ("For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" - Matthew 16:26).  To repeat the conclusion of my study Bible, "It is the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of the faithful who have departed life in this world are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection."  Therefore faithful, prayerful living -- maintaining our connection with God, the root of life itself -- becomes the means whereby our souls are sustained in an eternal union with God.  In that sense of union, we return again to the theme of the wedding feast, when the Bridegroom, the Son, is united to His Bride, the Church, the faithful.  Let us see what the Sadducees are blind to.  In some sense, it is the flesh they see, and understand the Law as essential correction, perhaps, for the desires of the flesh that lead to sin.  But salvation in the sense that we understand it, that which leads to this eternal life depicted in the resurrection, asks more of us, as Christ explained to the rich young ruler (who was perhaps himself a Sadducee).  That rich man was told by Christ to sell what he had, give to the poor.  Thereby he would have "treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  That particular man was asked to give up his wealth and give to the poor for treasure in heaven; but, as my study Bible explained in that reading, we each will be called in different ways to follow Christ -- and this trust in Christ, this faith, is what leads to eternal life, the resurrection of which these Sadducees are ignorant.  When we ponder "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" we must consider what it means that "all live to God," because again, what this means is that there isn't a separation between the sacred and secular, nor even the life of the resurrection from our present life in the sense that we are always choosing to "live to God" or not.  The latter part of today's reading is also relevant to this understanding, for in loving our neighbor "as ourselves" -- that is, as being of the same substance, created in the image and likeness of God as we are -- we are weave our wedding garment as we are taught.  And, it's important to note, this commandment does not divide life into the sacred and secular either.  Moreover, the living of this commandment enforces that we might have treasures in heaven through our lives in this world, although life in the resurrection is something different in quality than the life we know, changed and transfigured.  But we are asked by Christ to "come, follow Me," for He is the One who merged a human soul with the divine will, making it possible for us all to enter the resurrected life.  Let us continually seek to follow Him, and be aware of what we are doing when we so choose.  Let us live to Him.

 

 

Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight

 

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: 

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.'"

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 

 

- Matthew (1:1-17) 3:1–6 

 

 In today's lectionary reading we are given Matthew 1:1-17 as a parenthetical beginning.  Matthew begins his Gospel by giving us the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the history and lineage of His birth.  Let us consider some significant factors and meanings to the genealogy given here in Matthew.  Jesus means "O Lord, save," which refers to His role as Savior.  Christ means "Anointed One," giving us the Messiah, the One who is filled with the Holy Spirit (see John 1:33).  My study Bible reminds us that although the Son alone became a human being, God the Father and the Holy Spirit work in Jesus Christ to save us.  Matthew's genealogy begins by referring to Jesus as the son of David, the son of Abraham -- David being the greatest king of Israel and prototype of the royal Messiah, and Abraham the father not just of all Jews, but of the "people of God," whose faithfulness was accounted as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).  My study Bible comments that Matthew's genealogy reveals that the Son of God so identifies with the human condition that He takes it all on Himself and become part of it.  It notes for us that Christ's ancestry includes both righteous and wicked people, faithful kings and murderers, Jews and Gentiles, kings and peasants.  

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"  My study Bible comments that the wilderness of Judea is the barren region descending from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.  The preparation for the Savior's ministry begins with John the Baptist's call to repent.  Repentance, which accompanies faith, is a total about-face.  The word in Greek means literally "change of mind," or more generally, to turn around.  My study Bible characterizes repentance as a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart, a complete reorientation of the whole of one's life.  It is the needed first step in the way of the LORD.  Moreover, my study Bible adds, it is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism (see the final verse in today's reading), and followed by a life filled with fruits which are worthy of this change (see verse 8, part of tomorrow's reading).  The Gospel quotes from Isaiah 40:3, which appears in this "beginning" of the story of Christ's ministry in all four Gospels (see also Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23).  

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  My study Bible explains that John's ascetic life conformed to that of the Jewish sects such as the Essenes, who lived in the wilderness and whose purpose was to prepare for the coming Kingdom of God.  John's clothing was typical of a prophet, and most clearly resembled that of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8).  The monastic movement in the early Church, my study Bible adds, was patterned after John manner of life. 

 

Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.   My study Bible says that the confession of sins is essential to baptism under both the Old Covenant and the New.  But John's baptism was a sign only of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  It did not confer the power of total regeneration nor adoption as a child of God as does Christian baptism (see verse 11).  

As noted above, Matthew's genealogy of Jesus Christ begins by noting Christ as a son of David.  This is another title for the Messiah ("Son of David").  In fact, in several places in Matthew's Gospel, people use this title in addressing Jesus; see Matthew 9:27, 15:22, 20:30.  But perhaps for today it's important to place a focus on the true beginning of the genealogy, which starts with Abraham, the father of all Jews, the first patriarch.  As we commented already, Genesis 15:6 tells us of Abraham, "And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness."  This is highly important, because as patriarch of all Jews (and even of faithful people to come out of the Gentiles), Abraham is not accounted as righteous by God because he followed and kept the Law or Torah perfectly.  This is long before the Torah existed, and before Moses was born.  Abraham is the father of all the faithful because of his own faithfulness.  He responded to God's call to him by being faithful in what God asked him to do.  It is as profoundly simple as that.  David also is the epitome of a faithful king.  If we look at both of these men, however, we do not see perfect men.  We see people who have failed on occasion, and who have sinned.  All of this is important because these ancestors of Christ have nonetheless lived their faith, they have exercised what many would call "faithfulness" by living that faith, and thus righteousness is reckoned to them -- as it can and must also be reckoned to us.  In John's chapter 6, after being fed by Jesus in the wilderness, the people seek to make Him their king, and they pursue Him.  But He turns to them and tells them that they're simply after Him because He gave them food.  He teaches them, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  They then ask Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answers, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  In Greek, that word for "believe" does not simply convey an intellectual idea we agree with.  It is, at its root, a word meaning trust.  This trust is what faithfulness is all about -- a loyalty to God, a deeply willingness to please and obey the things of God.  This is what true faith and faithfulness and trust is all about.  Jesus asks the people to put their trust in Him, and to live that trust.  As my study Bible's comments allude in speaking of the baptism of John the Baptist, John comes into this beginning of Christ's ministry in the world to prepare the people for the Messiah, and John teaches them repentance, giving them a baptism of repentance.  This is to turn and to face the Lord and receive Him.  But Jesus will give us Holy Baptism, so that we may receive the Holy Spirit, the Helper or Counselor, the great gift to us of help for our own faithfulness, so that we might be righteous in the same way as the patriarch Abraham, and by adoption become "sons of God."  Faithfulness remains the thread that carries us through all the Bible, and to Christ, making us a part of His family tree by adoption.  St. Paul uses the analogy of an olive tree in Romans 11, to speak to those believing Gentiles who've been "grafted on" to a cultivated tree from a wild one -- meaning they who once did not live in obedience and faithfulness to God now may pursue and live such faithfulness.  Let us consider the faithfulness that runs all through this tree, how we become "children of God," and a part of the people of God.  Let us remember that it is lived faithfulness and trust in Christ that constitutes righteousness in the sight of God, as we go through Matthew's Gospel.  St. John the Baptist does his part in this great economy of salvation; he is faithful to the part God gives him to play.  May we all choose to do likewise.

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

 

- John 8:47-59 

 In our current readings, Jesus is attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem (beginning from this reading).  He has been disputing with the religious leaders.   In yesterday's reading, 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?"   Today's reading begins with Christ's final statement to the religious leaders from yesterday's reading.  As these authorities in the temple are unable to defeat Christ through logic or truth, my study Bible comments, here they begin to resort to personal insult (see also John 9:34).  

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."  Once again, Jesus speaks regarding potential witnesses to His identity, as if offering testimony.  He will not testify of Himself, as He says for it is not for Him to honor Himself.  But the Father bears witness and honors Him -- and they do not know God the Father.  Then He offers another witness from the Scriptures, father 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 hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.  Here Jesus uses the divine Name of God from the Old Testament, first revealed to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15).  This is the use of the I AM (Ἐγώ εἰμι/Ego eimi) here by Christ, in this particular context, which these men of the Council understand completely.  To them, my study Bible says, this was a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God.  Therefore, this is what they clearly evidence by their reaction (Then they took up stones to throw at Him . . .).  (See also Mark 14:62-64.)   My study Bible adds that St. John places special emphasis on the use of this Name in order to clearly reveal Christ as God.  This divine claim, it says, illuminates Christ's authority, which is even over death (verse 52), which is a power that belongs only to God the Father.

In today's reading, Jesus declares, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God."  This may seem to us like a perplexing statement.  In our modern culture (especially in the West), we are used to thinking about ourselves as reliable witnesses or unreliable, truthful or untruthful.  But this is not the division Jesus is speaking of here, not the same type of discernment.  Jesus is speaking about what kind of yardstick by which we choose to measure things, and particularly to measure what is true and what is not true.  For this measurement -- and especially for the evaluation of this identity Jesus is expressing here -- only one yardstick will do.  There is only One who can measure and testify as to whom Jesus really is, and that is God the Father.  If we go back to Peter's confession of faith in St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus replies to Peter directly afterward, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."  See Matthew 16:16-17.  Elsewhere Jesus also speaks of God the Father revealing truth to people, when He says in St. Luke's Gospel, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."    See Luke 10:21.  What we find in these two episodes is the affirmation from Christ that it is the Father who may testify to people.  Perhaps, of course, this happens in hidden ways.  But nevertheless, it happens, and this is made clear by Christ in His dialogue with these religious authorities who cannot understand nor "hear" Him.  Jesus will repeatedly make this claim, that they simply do not know Jesus because they do not really know God the Father.  Then He gives the example of another one to whom the Lord was revealed through faith, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  In chapter 10, Jesus will refer these men to Psalm 82:6, affirming that the word of God can come to human beings, when He says,  "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, “You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?" (see John 10:33-36).  So all of this simply invites us to ask also, what is our yardstick?  By whose judgment do we measure?  If even Christ does not use His own judgment ("You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one" - John 8:15); then how are we to judge with good judgment?   If He says in today's reading, "And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges" (verse 50), then how are we to understand good judgment, apart from seeking our own glory, so to speak?  It is very easy to believe that only Christ can hear the word of God, but what Christ really teaches is that He is from above, and so knows God and heavenly things (John 3:12).  But at the same time, He also makes it clear that through faith, and through grace, we human beings can also be open to the wisdom of God, for it even may come from the mouths of babes.  When the children praise and welcome Him in the temple as the Christ, Jesus is angrily asked by the leaders, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  He replies, quoting from Psalm 8:2, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise' ?" (Matthew 21:15-16).  When we pray, we are putting our trust and confidence in God.  We seek to establish, uphold, affirm, and deepen that communion with God.  Faith also asks of us that we grow in this deepening communion, for we walk a path.  When Jesus teaches, "I am the way," that word translated as way means "road" in Greek.  Part of that deepening reliance and faith means that we must seek for ourselves to know the ultimate yardstick.  Like Christ, we seek the judgment of the Father, we pray for illumination by the Holy Spirit, we ask Christ to show us His path, to lead us in the road of righteousness and good judgment.  We can give up of ourselves and our own glory in order to seek the glory of the One who sent Christ, and whom He brought more deeply to us.  In St. John's chapter 5, Jesus asks the religious leaders, "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44).  Let us endeavor to do as Christ asks, and seek the honor that comes from the only God, the One whose judgment is true.

 

He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God

 

 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." 

 

- John 8:33–47 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  He has been disputing with the religious authorities.  In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

 

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."  This conversation continues on from the one begun in yesterday's reading, when Jesus taught to those from Jerusalem who believed in Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."   Once again we see the use of misunderstandings in St. John's Gospel, in order to clarify or elaborate on concepts for which Jesus uses ordinary language to convey the things of God.  It's worth revisiting my study Bible's comment on His statement.  Here, it says, the truth refers both to the virtue of truth and, even more importantly, to Christ Himself (John 14:6).  To be free means freedom from darkness, confusion, and -- as well as the bondage to sin and death, to which Jesus alludes here.  As Son, Christ is the Person who is truth.  Therefore as Liberator or Deliverer He is the One who can make 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."  To be a child of Abraham, my study Bible says, it isn't enough simply to be related by blood.  Abraham's true children are those who share his faith and virtue (Luke 3:8).  It notes that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Christ wanted to detach the Jews from racial pride and to teach them no longer to place their hope of salvation in being of the race of Abraham's children by nature, but rather to come to faith by free will.  This notion that being a descendant of Abraham was enough for salvation was just the thing that prevented them from coming to Christ.  

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."  Here, proceeded refers not to the Son coming eternally from the Father, but rather to Christ being sent from the Father to His Incarnation on earth, my study Bible explains.

"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."   My study Bible tells us that, just as being a child of Abraham is based on sharing Abraham's attributes, so likewise, these who reject Christ share the same attributes as the devil (in particular, a hatred for truth), and are therefore rightly called the devil's children.  

It's interesting to consider what the Orthodox say are the "energies" of a person.  These energies are our actions, the things we do, from the Greek word ἐνέργεια/energeia.  It is frequently described as meaning "being at work" or "active" or "in operation."  For persons, it means things that we do.  We could consider it as being essentially what we do in the world.  This word ("energies") is also used in Orthodox theology to describe God's grace; that is, the things that God does.  One analogy to this concept is like the sun:  the sun itself in its being is the fiery planet we know, but the sun's energies are the things that reach to us (i.e. rays of sunlight) and sustain our lives and our world.  So it is with God's grace, God's energies.  In a recent comment on his blog, Fr. Stephen Freeman described how human beings also have energies by which we know them.  So, whether we are speaking of a human person or a divine Person, both have these energies that we can know by the properties we experience or witness.  As my study Bible, and Jesus' words indicate, however, this does not only apply to the good things a person does.  Jesus gives this example in illustration of the principle, saying to 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."   Jesus speaks of the devil as "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."  These things are also types of energies by which we know the devil:  as a murderer, a liar, the father of lies.  In Revelation 22:15, the Lord says that those kept outside of the city of God include "whoever loves and practices a lie."  It is in this context that my study Bible comments that through sharing in the attributes of the devil -- and in particular that would include a hatred for truth -- we become aligned with the same energies. We cannot help but notice how lies and lying figure in this for Christ.  This seems to speak of a type of internal disposition which isn't separate from what we do.  Indeed, we practice virtue in order to become disciplined in the practice of "likeness" to God and God's energies.  By the same token, we can become more "like" the one who hates God by habitual practices of lying and contempt for truth.  It is in this sense that Jesus says to the religious leaders that their father is the devil, for with all they do, they make themselves like him.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to those from Jerusalem who believed in Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  To abide in His word is to practice the discipline of the kinds of energies and actions  He preaches; it is to become disciplined in His life and truth, and to become more like Him, to be His children in this sense.  So it works the same way if we choose to practice the vices of the devil, and particularly an affinity for lies.  We must also understand the spiritual component to all of these things, for we do not simply emulate action in a physical sense, but we align with something spiritual, one way or the other.  Therefore it is grace that helps us to align and follow Christ, to abide in His word, but we must also realize that to align in the characteristics of the devil is also to take a side in what is in effect a spiritual battle, with so much that we don't see.  This is what St. Paul asks us to consider when he writes, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  Among the people who listen to Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem, there are those who truly hear Him and believe, and those who cannot hear at all.  Jesus gives us the explanation for both.