How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

"I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

- John 5:30-47

Yesterday we read that Jesus answered the leadership in the temple and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.   Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

"I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."  In one sense, this statement sums up and emphasizes more deeply what Jesus has just said (in yesterday's reading, above).  As Christians, we understand that the divine will is common to the three Persons of the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- all fully share in the same divine nature.   My study bible adds, however, that when the Son is said to obey the Father, this refers to His human will, which Christ assumed at His Incarnation.  He freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father, and so we are called to do likewise.

"If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"  Here, Jesus provides witnesses to His claim of Sonship.  He is anticipating the argument and speaking the thoughts of the Jewish leaders (as He does also in Luke 4:23).   In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  Jesus offers four witnesses confirming His identity as Messiah and as Son of God in this passage.  First He names John the Baptist ("You have sent to John. . .");  Next, His works ("the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me").  As His third witness, He names God the Father ("the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me").  Finally, Jesus names the Old Testament Scriptures ("You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me"), through which Moses and others gave testimony ("if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me").

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

I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose

Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."

And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are my beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

- Luke 3:15-22

In yesterday's reading, we were introduced to John the Baptist's ministry. He quoted from Isaiah, in expectation of the Messiah, "Make His paths straight." Then he taught the people what they must do, as he baptized for the remission of sins, in expectation of the One to come. Each must bear his or her own good fruit, and cannot rely only on ancestors or tradition before the Messiah. He said, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." To the tax collectors, he said, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you." And to the soldiers he taught, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire." My study bible has a note, which is worthwhile to quote here: "With a clear understanding of his own mission, John points to Christ as coming Messiah who 'will baptize . . . with the Holy Spirit and fire.' Although baptism is practiced by Jesus' circle of disciples (John 4:1,2), the prophecy here describes the baptismal gift of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Fire in this context seems to imply judgment, the same as the images of the winnowing fan and of burning the chaff. John understands that the coming of the Messiah brings judgment, as the Apostle John writes, 'This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil' (John 3:19)." It's important to understand John's profound impact on the population: he was very widely respected and considered a holy man. But, true to his mission, he points to the One who is to come. To be baptized with fire is not only an image of judgment, but also of holiness. Many saints and mystics have spoken of this holy, purifying fire. It seems to me that the fire of God's love and the fire of hell must be the same thing: but it depends on what we are "made of" in a sense, in what we abide, how we choose to align ourselves and in whose image we grow, and if we are willing to depart with the things that are not good for us (see If your right eye causes you to sin) -- we are either burned by the fire or purified in its energy and grace. In this sense, the baptism of the fire -- of the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of truth -- works at once in the world to reveal sin, righteousness and judgment, as He has said in the recent readings from the Gospel of John.

And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. John had rebuked Herod Antipas for divorcing his wife in order to marry Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, while Philip was still living. Matthew's Gospel gives us the story of John's death. We know that even Herod both feared and was in awe of John, and curious about Jesus. But he feared the authorities more, and the loss of his position. John is a righteous figure, and as so often is the case, the Gospels teach us that righteousness may often be at odds with state power and its use.

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are my beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." This is Luke's treatment of the manifestation of the Trinity, an Epiphany or Theophany -- the revealed Father, Son and Spirit. My study bible teaches that while Jesus has no need of baptism Himself, He recognizes John's ministry. Jesus undergoes baptism as part of a teaching to us about how we live as He did -- and He sanctifies and blesses the waters of the world for our own baptism as the future Church -- as my study bible says beautifully, "by mystery restoring [all of creation] to its original condition through union with Him." The dove is the sign of the "anointing" of Jesus with fullness of the Spirit that is eventually to baptize us all following His death and Resurrection.

It is rather poetic that we have just been through the readings of Jesus' Farewell Discourse to His Apostles in John (beginning with the reading for Good Friday, and ending with Wednesday's reading). Jesus, in the lectionary, has recently told us of the coming of the Spirit, the Comforter, into the world. But here we begin the story of His ministry: we start with the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist -- and we are introduced to the revelation of Trinity in the Person of Jesus at His baptism by John. It is a beautiful, poignant, and also, sad beginning, because of the note of John's imprisonment. It is a kind of reflection of Jesus' words about His own death: that the grain of wheat falls to the ground and bears much fruit. In baptism, we also die to ourselves -- to the old self, and are born again through the Spirit, as Jesus' ministry is born in this passage. Let us remember the transitions that we go through in life, the holy fire that purifies and sends us beyond what we knew and into the unknown, the life of God -- the Way -- whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our way. What do you have to learn today? What is it that you may need to leave behind in order to go forward into the holy fire of the Spirit and His life for you?