I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me

 

 "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  

"If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

 

- John 5:30–47 

 

In our current reading, Jesus is at the Feast of Weeks, known as the Old Testament Pentecost, in Jerusalem.  He has healed a paralytic on the Sabbath, and so the religious authorities engaged in a dispute with Him.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.   Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." 

 "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."  My study Bible comments on this verse that the divine will is common to the three Persons of the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- for all fully share in the same divine nature.  As Christ says the Son obeys the Father, this is a reference to His human will, which He assumed at His Incarnation.  My study Bible says that Christ freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father -- and we are called to do the same. 

"If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"  My study Bible asks the question regarding this passage, how could Christ's witness ever be untrue?  It cannot (see John 8:14).  But here, Jesus anticipates the argument, and so speaks the thoughts of the Jewish leaders (He also does the same thing in Luke 4:23).  In Jewish tradition, according to my study Bible, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  Here, Christ doubles that and offers four witnesses to confirm His identity a Messiah and as Son of God.  First, He mentions God the Father; then John the Baptist; then He gives His own works as bearing witness to His identity as Son; and finally the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and others gave testimony.  

Jesus says, "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."  My study Bible tells us that we are meant to do as Christ does, to seek the will of God and do it.  Since Christ Himself explains that He is loyal to the will of the Father, we can assume that the things that He teaches us are also things that express the will of God the Father.  In chapter 14, Jesus says to the apostle Philip, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (John 14:9).  So through these words, we understand that Christ represents to us the Father in this world, so that we come to know God, even God the Father, through Jesus.  Therefore what He has taught us is clearly in the will of God the Father.  So, if we keep Christ's commandments, then we also seek the will of the Father who sent Christ.  Oftentimes, we'll find ourselves in a dilemma, and we're not sure exactly what is the righteous response, or what is the righteous way of Christ through a particular circumstance.  But here is where prayer and seeking discernment matter.  Here is where the practices of the Church come in for us; in prayer and worship, and all the various practices of the Church, we find help.  We find sustenance through prayer for finding the right way, for seeking strength, and for perseverance in seeking the good and the righteous way of life.  We can but ask in prayer.  There are times when we doubt ourselves, or even doubt our prayer.  But the most important thing is our effort in so doing, and the love in our hearts seeking to please God.  Jesus does not ask us to be omniscient; He asks us to be loyal, faithful, to find the love of God and to seek to love God in return.  This is trust, and it is the real root of faith.  So let us begin to understand that Jesus asks us to do as He does, to live as He lived.  For He has come into the world in a divine/human form, in the Incarnation, in order to show us the way.  As He lived, He shows us the Father, and He shows us how to live in such a way to also seek God's way in all that we do.  As we are also sent the gift of the Holy Spirit through Christ and His Incarnation, death, and Resurrection, we should remember that the Holy Spirit "will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."  Therefore, Father, Son, and Spirit share one will, and we are given help -- a Helper -- to know that will and participate in it as well.  Let us see the righteousness that Christ teaches us, and remember that it is rooted in love, as He teaches us in turn to love God who loves us.  This discourse was begun because Christ healed the paralytic, and is now being challenged for doing so.  But all that we are given is done so that we may heal; in seeking Christ's righteousness we seek the grace that heals us as well.  Christ has the humility to admit His dependence upon the Father.  Let us remember the One upon whom we need to rely as well.

See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you

 

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"   The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

 

- John 5:1-18 

 

Yesterday we read that, after remaining two days with the Samaritans, Jesus departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast. So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  So Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.  

 

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  The feast that marks the setting of today's reading is considered to be the Old Testament Pentecost, which is also called the "Feast of Weeks."  It celebrates the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.  My study Bible says that this understanding is confirmed by the references to the Law of Moses later in this chapter.  

 

  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  This was a double-basin pool, and believed to have curative powers, as the text indicates.  My study Bible reports that this pool has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.   It is a high-ground pool, and its water came from underground springs.  It was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs prior to them being slain.  My study Bible remarks that the pool functions as a type of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, there was a great multitude waiting to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  These waters are special, it notes, because they were a way of indirect participation in the animal sacrifices of the temple, as the animals were washed in the same water.  But this grace is limited to the first person to enter.  In the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations and as a direct participation in Christ's own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6).  This happens also without the mediation of angels.  So, my study Bible concludes, baptism grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body -- and its grace is inexhaustible. 

 

 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary.  St. Chrysostom says that Jesus singled out the man who had waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us to have perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles which last a far shorter time.  

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"   The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  My study Bible notes that Christ's question is relevant for many reasons.  First, it made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in a situation that was seemingly hopeless, for how could a paralytic ever be the first person into the water?  Next, Christ draws attention away from the water and toward the need we have for a man to help us.  This need is fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became a Man to heal all.  Finally, not all people who are ill actually desire healing.  It is a sad statement, but true, that some might prefer to remain infirm for certain things experienced as "benefits."  It gives one license to complain, to avoid responsibility for one's life, or to continue drawing the sympathy of others. 

 

 Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  My study Bible comments that although the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, this is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and it is explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  It notes also that it's made clear that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath by Christ's command ("Take up your bed and walk") and also by the man's obedience.  (See also Matthew 12:1-8.)  As we will see frequently in John's Gospel, the use of the term the Jews here refers to the religious leaders and not to the people in general; all the characters in our reading are Jews, as is the author of the Gospel.  My study Bible asks us to note the malice of these leaders, who focus only on the Sabbath violation, asking the man, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" but they ignore completely his miraculous healing.  

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  My study Bible remarks on the fact that this man was found in the temple; it notes that this shows his great faith, as he had gone there directly to thank God for his cure rather than leaving for someone's home or the marketplace.  Jesus admonishes him to sin no more:  my study Bible comments that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), this connection is not always one-to-one, as the innocent frequently suffer, and the guilty are frequently spared earthly sufferings (see also John 9:1-3).  But, nonetheless, there are times when our own sins lead to our own suffering in a worldly sense.  According to St. Chrysostom, this was the case with this man and his paralysis.  Jesus' warning, however, is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body; our hope is to flee from sin altogether.  Additionally, this man doesn't report Jesus to the leaders of the Jews in a way that is malicious, but rather as a witness to His work.  Although these leaders were only interested in the violation of the Sabbath, this healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and says nothing about carrying his bed.  

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.  Here my study  Bible comments that when Jesus declares God to be My Father, the Jews (that is, the religious leaders) quite clearly know that this implies absolute equality.  The discourse by Jesus begun here will continue in our following reading.

In today's reading we are given the third of seven signs in John's Gospel; they are signs of the kingdom of God being extraordinarily present in the Person of Jesus Christ.  My study Bible comments that this healing exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness.  It seems important to note that, once the man is healed of his paralysis, Jesus also teaches him, ""See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  This is a distinct warning.  To avoid sinning is to avoid a "worse thing" to come upon him.  One must pause to wonder why this is so.  We might think, in effect, that the grace of God is something that is given but that also can be taken away.  But Christ's words regarding sin indicate that such a "worse thing" would be due to a kind of spurning of grace.  After all, it is God and God's grace that has made this man well.  To therefore go forward not seeking to avoid sin would be in some sense to spurn and reject God -- even after this great grace of healing has been given to the man.  Therefore, to go forward without the effort to avoid sin would be not to set out on a path of righteousness, or a deeper relationship with God.  God has come to the man, but to go forward and resume a healthy life without seeking to avoid sin would be in a sense throwing away that relationship offered by God.  In this way, a "worse thing" could come upon him, for a deliberate rejection of what we know is good, of grace that has been given to us, will have consequences.  In this sense, we have to see Christ's healing as wholeness, and as making the man whole, for we are not only a material body divorced from soul and spirit, but to be understood as a whole person.  We need to see ourselves as whole in this sense of completeness.  If we divorce the notion of our body from all that we are, we remain a kind of abstract being, not whole and not real.  We ignore the true importance of our bodies as temples of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17), and thus we lack an understanding of what constitutes our own "wholeness."  So when we think about what it means to be truly "whole" as a person, and to be truly healthy, we cannot exempt our journey toward God, our walk with faith.  For life goes on, even after a healing, and to forget about how we need to live our lives is to forget about what we truly need in life, and what it is that makes us whole -- even what it is to be a whole person.  We go forward and life moves on, and as Jesus indicates here, we always need to consider in what direction we are going.  For this is what gives us real health, and the wholeness of who we are.