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 

 

 Following the healing of the paralytic at the pool near the Sheep Gate, the religious leaders found and began to question Jesus about healing on the Sabbath.  Jesus responded, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." Following this, they became even more enraged at Christ.  Yesterday we read that 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."  The divine will is common to the three Persons of the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- for all fully share the same divine nature, my study Bible explains.  When the Son is said to obey the Father, this refers to Christ's human will, which He assumed at His Incarnation.  According to my study Bible, He freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father; so are we 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?"  My study Bible asks, how could Christ's witness ever be untrue?  It cannot, it says (see John 8:14).  Here Jesus is anticipating their argument, and speaking the thoughts of the Jewish leaders (he does the same in Luke 4:23).  In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  Here, Jesus doubles that, and offers them four witnesses to confirm His identity as Messiah and as Son of God.  He first offers God the Father ("There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true"); then St. John the Baptist; Christ's own works testify of Him, which the Father has given Him to do; and finally the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and others gave testimony to Him.  

 

 Jesus repeatedly invokes the concept that human beings do not grant the honor that He seeks.  Indeed, even testimony "from man" is not something He receives ("Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved").  He is establishing first that it is the honor of God that He values and that has meaning as a true measuring stick of value and goodness.  This is a teaching that applies to each of us as well.  In the penitential psalm of David cherished as  paradigm for all of us, we read, "Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge" (Psalm 51:4).  The psalmist affirms that it is only God who will and can be judge; and here in today's reading (and yesterday's, above), Jesus affirms that He, indeed, is judge, for the Father has given judgment into His hands.  So, therefore, honor is not defined through the opinion of "man," that is, of other human beings, but through pleasing God.  Nonetheless Jesus offers four witnesses to His identity as Messiah, as Lord.  They are St. John the Baptist, who testified about Him as the Lamb of God, and prepared the people for Him (see John 1:29, 36).  St. John also testified as witness to the event of Christ's Baptism and the revelation of the Holy Trinity at that time, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit (John 1:32).  For Christ, all value and judgment comes from God, thus St. John the Baptist's mission and work as prophet, from God, is valuable, honest, and true witness.  Next He names the works that He does as witness, for these are given to Him by the Father to do.  Therefore His "signs" all point to God, affirming that He is the Christ.  Jesus says, "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?"  In other words, if they truly loved God, they would recognize these works of God in Him.  But they only receive honor from one another, and not from the only God.  Therefore they cannot truly see what He is, who He is, nor even the One to whom all of His signs (His "works") point.  Finally, Jesus speaks of Moses as witness to Himself as Messiah and Lord:  "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?"  Let us bear in mind that all of these religious leaders revere Moses and the Scriptures that come through Moses.  But Jesus is saying that even Moses' writings, which reveal Himself, they do not truly believe, because they haven't the love of God in them.  Jesus' language teaches us something powerful about psychology, that those things we honor and love determine how we view the world, and even what we are capable of recognizing as good, and of intrinsic worth.  This is truly essential understanding of the heart.  For, as He says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21).  The layers of the heart are indeed veiled, and complicated, but the soul has a depth of orientation that can and will surprise us at times.  It is Christ the judge who can see this in us, even when we are unaware of the depths of our hearts ourselves.  His words verify that we need to seek first that kingdom of God, our depth of relationship, for that sets all else in proper order, including how we view the world and our relationships in it.  We should also take note that, in the Church, historically, we understand the Old Testament in light of the New:  for here, Christ Himself tells us that those Scriptures speak of Him as Lord.  Let us seek Him with our whole hearts, for only His judgment is the righteous one we need.

 

 

 

 

On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets

 

 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. 

 

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 

 

In our present readings, the setting is Holy Week.  Jesus has entered the Holy City in His Triumphal Entry, He has cleansed the temple, and He has been challenged by the religious leaders, with whom He continues in debate.  Yesterday we read that, after He told the parable of the Wedding Feast against them, 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 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.  The Sadducees were a class among the ruling Council composed of those with inherited positions, and formed a type of aristocratic landowning class in and around Jerusalem.  In contrast to the Pharisees, they held only the Pentateuch or Torah as their Scriptures (the first five books of the Holy Bible), and they did not believe in the resurrection or the existence of angels.  So they ask Christ a question which mocks the resurrection with a scenario depicting the continuation of earthly life.  But Jesus here confirms that there will be a resurrection, but these men fail to understand the life of the resurrection.  He tells them, "You are mistaken" for they do not understand, "not knowing the Scriptures and the power of God."  My study Bible explains that the Scriptures reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, which makes such earthly questions irrelevant.  Moreover, they fail to understand how Abraham and his sons can be alive in God even if they are physically dead.  It is the clear teaching of Christ, my study Bible notes, that the souls of the faithful who have departed this life 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 teaches us that the Pharisees had found 613 commandments in the Scriptures, and they debated constantly about which one was central.  So this question to Jesus is very pertinent to their practices and ways of thinking.  Jesus declares the first and second commandments here, meaning not simply a kind of order in which commandments were given, but rather a ranking in terms of the centrality and power of the commandments themselves and our lives as those who seek to live a life pleasing to God.  These two commandments constitute the grand summary of the Law, and the Prophets as well, as Jesus comments.  The first is the foundation of all, the second is essential.  Although this lawyer (that is, an expert in the law) came with malice to test the Lord, my study Bible says, we know from St. Mark's account that this man is converted by Christ's answer, responding, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  Jesus then replied to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." See Mark 12:28-34.

 

 In yesterday's reading and commentary, we expanded on our understanding of Christ as Sovereign, and the Cross as His sign of victory, a "flag," if you will, planted in this world through His Passion, declaring His Kingship as Messiah or Christ.  If we consider the whole of the Incarnation and what it means that He is Deliverer and Savior, we must come to understand the claims of spiritual victory over that which opposes God and seeks to prevent the salvation of the world.  So, in that light, let us examine a little more closely Jesus' ranking of the commandments in answer to the question, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"   The great central question of debate around Jesus has been the question of His authority.  He teaches and speaks with authority, "and not as the scribes" (Matthew 7:29).  So, from the first, He has distinguished Himself in this sense.  The multitudes, the people, have clearly responded to Christ's ministry and gospel message, as evidenced in the Triumphal Entry.  Moreover, the desire of the religious leaders to seize Him has been thwarted by their fear of the people, who believe Him to be a prophet (Matthew 21:46).  Jesus has no "earthly" position in the temple; He is not a Levitical priest, and yet He acts with authority to cleanse the temple.  And clearly, in His dialogue and disagreements with the religious leaders, He speaks as One with authority to them, even in judgment of them.  This will be truly evident in the following chapter.  So we have to ask ourselves in this context, "What does sovereignty mean?  What is Jesus' authority truly like? How does it show itself?"  This question in today's reading, posed by the lawyer, touches on the authority and weight of commandments.  Jesus' answer sets down that which is not simply an opinion of a good Teacher, but One who speaks with the authority as Author and Giver of the Law, the Word (or Logos; see John 1:1).  In giving us the true weight or value of the commandments, ranking one as the greatest, and the other as essential to the first and greatest, Jesus sets out the rule of His sovereignty, of His authority and claim in our world.  So we are to take His words for ourselves.  As Christians and followers of Christ, we might wonder at just what this sovereignty means.  His words are authoritative, so why does the world not follow them?  Moreover, we may look around ourselves and see His words regarding true righteousness as constantly violated or disobeyed.  How does this happen under Christ if He is sovereign Lord in our world?  This is an important question, because what it asks us to do is to define what sovereignty is and does.  Does Christ's sovereignty indicate the difference between a dictator and a benevolent king?  Does sovereignty mean harsh rule?  Or does it indicate a righteousness that also allows for freedom -- even for God's own creatures?  Certainly we understand that God's creatures are made with wills of their own, including the angels (and those who have rebelled against Christ's sovereignty).  So this is the first thing we need to consider.  We know that there will come a time of fullness of this age, when Christ will judge.  But until that time, we understand God as righteous, full of mercy, giving time and room for repentance, and respecting the free will God has given to God's creatures.  We might not have the full picture of how and why salvation works, and the grand fullness of all of creation and where we are headed, but we can understand the righteousness of God from what we know, and especially from the teachings and ministry of Jesus Christ (John 14:9).  In St. Luke's 18th chapter, Jesus teaches to His disciples the parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8), giving an example of a kind of ruler or sovereign (one with authority) who is not righteous, who cares nothing for righteousness and mercy.  But even the unjust judge will tire of hearing requests for a fair hearing and verdict, and so will respond to such pleas as are in our prayers.  When He completes the parable, Jesus says, "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily."  But He finishes with this wistful-seeming question, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"  So we must take from this question an important understanding of our Lord's sovereignty, how it works and what it is, and -- perhaps more pertinently -- how God rules.  God has created us with independent wills and a certain level of freedom.  More relevant to the question, what does this say about our capacity for faith and loyalty to God?  God's purposes are clearly served through endowing God's creation with freedom, so that each of us is free to choose -- or, perhaps more accurately, to find within  ourselves our capacity for faith and understanding, for the apprehension of the things of God.  Jesus -- and the prophets sent before His human life in this world -- repeatedly calls this power to apprehend and have faith "eyes to see and ears to hear."  He clearly articulates this in explaining the parable of the Sower (and His reason for teaching in parables) to the disciples in Matthew 13:10-17.  He refers to this as the capacity for knowing the mysteries of the Kingdom.  So, in our understanding of sovereignty, we must at the same time move from the concept of Christ's authority, such as His declaration of the two greatest commandments to us, to God's righteousness, the freedom with which He rules and creates.  He asks us to follow from love, not dictatorship.  And therein lies the difference in our understanding of authority and sovereignty.  For the flag of victory -- the Cross -- is also the flag of love and mercy ("Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" - John 15:13).   In God's righteousness is our deliverance and salvation.  Christ's authority is the authority of love of us all.  Are we capable of returning that love and loyalty and faith?  It is right and fitting, then, that the two greatest commandments named by our Sovereign are the commandments whose substance is love.

 

 

 

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 and said to the religious authorities who questioned Him after He healed on the Sabbath, "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 explains here that the divine will is common to the three Persons of the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- for all fully share the same divine nature.  When the Son is said to obey the Father, this is a reference to Christ's human will, which He assumed at His Incarnation.  Jesus freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of God 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?"  My study Bible has a lengthy note on these verses.  First, it asks how Christ's witness could ever be untrue?  It cannot (see John 8:14).  Rather, my study Bible says that Jesus is anticipating the argument and here He is speaking the thoughts of the Jewish leaders whom He's addressing (He does the same thing in Luke 4:23).  In Jewish tradition, my study Bible explains, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  Here Christ offers four witnesses to confirm His identity as Messiah and as Son of God.  First is God the Father (verses 32, 37-38).  Then there is also John the Baptist (verses 33-35).  Finally, there are His own works that He has done (verse 36), and the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and others gave testimony (verses 39-47).  

 

What is this that Christ says about honor and its importance to us?  On some level, all human beings -- and even animals -- want something that is called honor.   We can consider honor to mean reputation, or status, or fame, or renown.  Somehow it conveys our presence to others and the way others think of us, where we have significance in a society or a group.  The honor we receive back from others influences also the ways that we think of ourselves.  For this is the way that our minds work.  Even for groups of animals, status within the group is essential to function.  In verse 44 of today's reading, Jesus asks, "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?"  This word that is translated as "honor" is usually translated as "glory" in the Greek.  It is δόξα/doxa.  So, considering this word, we can see its relation to reputation, renown, status among a group or society.  It is the word from which we derive the term doxology, a hymn of praise to God.  So Jesus is putting to these men a kind of challenge, to consider where they think their honor or glory comes from.  Does it come from God?  Or does it come from human beings?  Is their greatness something derived from impressing others, or from following God?  If our own notions of honor are sought by pleasing God, then where do we think our "glory" comes from?  If we look only to the world and ignore our relation with God in what we do, then where does our glory or honor come from?  In some way, this question exemplifies and underscores all that is contained in the Gospels, in the story of Jesus Christ and His ministry of salvation for this world.  For where does our honor or glory come from?  The Cross itself (and Christ's Crucifixion) exemplifies this very dichotomy, this contrast in where we think our honor or glory lies.  For in going to the Cross, Christ gave us the starkest example of One who sacrificed all worldly honor and glory for the honor and glory bestowed by God, and in so doing, He "trampled death by death" as the Orthodox Paschal Troparion declares.  As St. Paul put it, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).  St. John the Baptist, in his rigorous asceticism and radical humility, also exemplified a life lived for the glory of God only, without regard to worldly honor.  One could say that the very definition of a saint is of a person who gives all for their love of God, whatever that means in their lives.  To seek honor or glory from the only God is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).  This is from the command known as the Shema, after the first word in Hebrew (meaning "hear"); it is the Jewish declaration of faith.  It is also called the first great commandment by Christ (see Matthew 22:36-40).  It is this commandment to which Jesus' question appeals in addressing these religious leaders.  Where does their honor or glory come from?  How can they understand Him and what He says if they do not truly love God?  He says in all earnestness, "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?"   Today we can ask ourselves the same question. Where does our honor come from?  Where is our glory?

 

 

Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?

 

 Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  so they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him. 

 

Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."

 

- Mark 12:13–27 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples came again to Jerusalem.  And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.  And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority to do these things?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?  Answer Me."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men'" -- they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.  So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." Then He began to speak to them in parables:  "A men planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.  And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.  And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.  Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.  Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them.  So they left Him and went away.

 

  Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  so they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him.  My study Bible explains that the Herodians were Jewish political supporters of the ruling house of Herod the Great and therefore willing servants of Rome.  This question is design to entrap Jesus in either way He might answer.  A "yes" answer would turn the people against Him, for whom the Roman taxation and occupation were onerous.  A "no" would bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  But Christ's answer defeats their cunning, and shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  My study Bible explains that as the coin bears the image of the emperor and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict arises only when the state demands that which is contrary to God.  We should keep in mind also that our lives aren't divided into the secular and the sacred -- God is Lord over all of life, including the secular.  Paying taxes and other civil duties aren't detrimental to holiness.  

 

 Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."  The Sadducees represent landowners and other wealthy families in Jerusalem.  My study Bible explains that they held many high offices in Israel, and so controlled the temple and the Sanhedrin.  They were different from the Pharisees in that they were politically prudent and adapted to the presence of the Romans.  According to my study Bible, the Sadducees interpreted the law even more rigidly than the Pharisees and differed from them also in that they rejected belief in angels and in the resurrection from the dead at the end of the age.  The Sadducees completely disappeared after the destruction of Jerusalem.  

 

 In today's reading, we get both the question from the pro-Roman Herodians and one from the landowning, aristocratic Sadducees.  In both of these testing inquiries of Jesus, we observe a materialistic perspective, and one that we might say is not very spiritual.  That is, the first question is designed to trap Jesus around questions of money and taxes.  Jesus' response focuses in upon the coin or currency itself, as if to shape a perspective on a clear vision of what it means to pay and owe taxes to the state -- and what our duties are to God.  The contrast regarding which authority has domain over which area becomes the crux to Jesus' answer.  Whose image is printed on the coin, minted by the realm of Caesar?  So to return the taxes to Caesar is fitting.  But what belong to God?  And where is God's image?  Our whole lives are under the domain of God, and we are made in God's image, therefore our primary loyalty is to God.  We perhaps should keep in mind that these coins weren't allowed in the temple as they bore the image of Caesar, who was worshiped as a god (see Jesus' cleansing of the temple, including the tables of the money changers, in Monday's reading).  The Sadducees. landowning aristocrats, so to speak, of the Jewish society, with inherited positions and control of the temple, also posit a question with a rather materialistic perspective.  Because they didn't believe in resurrection, nor did their Scriptures include anything but the Torah or Law (the first five books of the Old Testament), they lack a spiritual orientation (neither did they believe in the existence of angels) and general perspective on the reality of the spiritual realm.  Thus, Jesus says to them, "You do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God," and they are therefore mistaken.  He explains of those in the resurrection, "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken." So their materialist perspective renders them mute and blind, in a sense, to the true reality of life as it exists in the fuller picture of God's creation, including the angels, the spiritual realm, the resurrection -- and the transformation possible for human beings in the resurrection.  Their blindness extends to their understanding of Scriptures, for they do not understand the meaning of God's words to Moses at the burning bush:  "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."   Additionally, we're given to understand, through Christ's words, that where the Sadducees with their materialist perspective see only death, the true God proclaims life:  "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."  In our modern age, it's quite tempting to adopt such a "down to earth" (so to speak) "materialist" position.  We can just accept the rules as they're taught to us through Scripture, follow them, and leave every other question to either unknowing, or as in this case, scoffing or ridiculing.  But Christ's fuller picture shows us the power of God, and the depth of meaning of the Scriptures, for it shows us the true fullness of life -- and that life is not limited simply to a worldly perspective.  Our real job in life isn't just to collect fortunes and do well materially; neither is it simply to produce offspring or expand the material or political power and property we have in life.  Our job is faith, and that includes the fullness of life as abundance we can't necessarily see, but nevertheless must keep in mind.  For if there is a resurrection, and if God is truly the God of the living, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all who come before and after us, if angels do live and work among us, if Christ is who He claims He is, then we are all in a world of unimaginable beauty and transcendent goodness -- which calls us to live according to that greater sense of God's kingdom.  In the course of the past two readings, we've had opportunity to discuss prayer and seeking God's will in Monday's reading and commentary (as in the Lord's Prayer, we pray to our Father in heaven, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"), and also the topic of prophets and prophecy in yesterday's reading and commentary.  These men who question Jesus, the Herodians and the Sadducees, understand neither, as they are bereft of these teachings through their exclusion of them.  It was Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded at his wife's request and through his own extravagant oath at a party; the Sadducees wish to retain their power and places but will be scattered at the Siege of Jerusalem.  Perhaps we should consider, in terms of Jesus' fuller picture of life, what this does to add to our own choices and considerations in our lives, how we are blessed, and how we must see all that we do in this perspective and through the lens of the life of the Kingdom.  For all that we do has a greater impact and importance than we think; we walk even among the great cloud of witnesses who belong to it all and among whom all live to God.

 

 

 

 

 

If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true

 

 "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 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 -- 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 religious leaders who now seek to persecute Him for healing on the Sabbath, and also for declaring Himself equal with God.  Jesus said, "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 here that the divine will is common to the three Persons of the Trinity; that is, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This is because they all fully share the same divine nature.  When the Son is said to obey the Father, my study Bible tells us, this is a reference to Jesus' human will, which was assumed at His Incarnation.  He freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father -- and so we are also 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 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 -- 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, how could Christ's witness ever be untrue?  It cannot (see John 8:14).  Rather, Jesus anticipates the argument of the religious leaders and speaks their thoughts (He does the same thing in Luke 4:23).  In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  Here Jesus is offering four witnesses to confirm His identity as Messiah and Son of God:  God the Father ("There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. . . . 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"). John the Baptist ("You have sent 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").  Christ's own works ("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").  Finally, the Old Testament Scriptures also testify of Him, through which Moses and others gave testimony (verses 39-47).  

Jesus provides four witnesses to His identity, double the required number of two.  It makes one wonder.  Suppose we had to provide witnesses to our own identity.  One of Christ's witnesses He chooses is the works that He does.  He says they testify to Him, to His identity.  Certainly elsewhere He has testified to the fact that everyone's works testify about them.  "Therefore by their fruits you shall know them," Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 7:15-20).  So, He's not the only one whose works testify to His identity.  What "fruits" do we produce with our lives and our efforts?  Moreover, Jesus speaks of His obedience to the Father, that His works come out of the things the Father has given Him to do.  Do we follow the works Christ would have us do?  Whom do we seek to serve in the things that we do in the world?  It seems like our hearts will to a great extent determine outcomes, or at least the fruits we produce, whether or not they seem "good" to others.  In the Sermon on the Mount, once again, Jesus speaks about where our heart is, and where our treasure is.  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).  What do we love; or rather, what is our first love?  What's our top priority, and what do we love the most?  Surely our works, the things we do, will be witness to that love in the heart.  In this particular saying of Jesus, it's often posited that He's speaking about helping those less fortunate, that when we do charitable acts, we have "treasure in heaven" rather than on earth.  But this, also, is testimony by our works, even if only God knows about it.  Thereby we also could say that our Father is witness to who we are.  If we thought more about life in this sense, that our efforts, our work, and the fruits of our own labor testify to who we are, then perhaps we would take more seriously how we spend our time, where we spend our energies, and the purposes to which we dedicate ourselves.  Note that this is not a moralistic argument or framework.  Rather, this question of witness to our labor and the fruits thereof is more of a question about what we love, and what we put first; that is, what it is to which we dedicate ourselves.  It becomes a question not of what others might think, or how the world would judge, but rather where our own loyalties lie --- for it is the things to which we are most loyal that will speak the loudest about ourselves and who we are in our hearts.  There are those who posit that where we place our attention is the place we devote our energies to.  Perhaps this suggests a devotion as well, and a need to chose wisely what we will focus on, what we try to help, to resolve, or even to wonder about.  Attention is perhaps most clearly denoted in prayer, a focus on the One we worship and our relatedness found there.  So, again, this is not so much a moralistic framework as it is a question of devotion, of attention, of care.  Where do we place our efforts and energies?  Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).  In another context, Bob Dylan paraphrases, "Gotta Serve Somebody."  Let us choose whom we serve carefully, for by our fruits we shall be known as well.   Who will be your witnesses?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?

 

 Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  So they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him.  

Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."

 

- Mark 12:13–27 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the cleansing of the temple, Jesus and the disciples came again to Jerusalem.  And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.  And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority to do these things?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?  Answer Me."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men'" -- they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.  So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  Then He began to speak to them in parables:  "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.  And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the heard, and sent him away shamefully treated.  And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.  Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.  Have you not even read this Scripture:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" And they sought to lay hands on Him,  but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them.  So they left Him and went away.  

 

  Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.  When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?  Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"  But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me?  Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."  So they brought it.  And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, "Caesar's."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And they marveled at Him.  My study Bible tells us that the Herodians were Jewish political supporters of the ruling house of Herod the Great and therefore willing servants of Rome.  Here they collaborate with the Pharisees to trap Jesus in His words.  A "yes" answer to this question on taxation would turn the Jewish people again Him, while a "no" could bring a charge of treason by the Romans.  My study Bible comments that Jesus defeats their cunning and shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God (Romans 13:1-7).  As the coin bears the image of the emperor and is properly paid to him, it explains, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.  Conflict arises only when the state demands that which is contrary to God.  

Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers.  The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.  And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring.  And the third likewise.  So the seven had her and left no offspring.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be?  For all seven had her as wife."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."   My study Bible explains that the Sadducees represent landowners and other wealthy families in Jerusalem.  They held many high offices in Israel, and controlled the temple and the Sanhedrin.  They differed from the Pharisees in that they were political prudent and had adapted to the presence of the Romans.  Additionally, they interpreted the law even more rigidly than the Pharisees.  Also unlike the Pharisees, they rejected belief in angels and in the resurrection from the dead at the end of the age.  After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Sadducees completely disappeared.  Jesus explains clearly that there will be a resurrection, but it will be something quite different from what the Sadducees imagine.  They think the resurrection will be a continuation of earthly life, including earthly marriage, and so they mock the idea with an absurd scenario.  But, as Jesus says, they are ignorant of the Scriptures and they don't know the power of God.  The Scriptures, understood correctly, reveal a complete transfiguration of life in the resurrection, and make their question irrelevant.  Moreover, they don't understand how Abraham and his sons can live in God even if they're physically dead.  My study Bible declares that it's the clear teaching of Christ that the souls of the faithful who have departed this life are sustained before the face of God in anticipation of the final joy of the resurrection.

 

 Jesus tells the Sadducees, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?"  The Sadducees were a party of people for whom there were only the first five books of the Scriptures, the Torah or Law of Moses, also called the Pentateuch.  But we can read into Christ's words the understanding that regardless of their limitation with regard to what Scriptures they accepted, they also did not know how to properly interpret the Scripture they had, and this is linked to His statement that they did not know the power of God.  If we don't understand the power of God, even if we don't consider grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit, how can we understand the Scriptures or learn how to read what is in them?  Jesus is telling us all quite clearly that without knowing the power of God we can't really understand what's in the Scriptures for us, for there is so much more than the letters on the page, and so much that needs to be seen with the eyes of spiritual perception (called nous in the Orthodox tradition).  This is why a prayerful reading of Scripture is always what we need, and a prayerful orientation to what we read is the way we should approach everything we read.  In my Orthodox Study Bible, from which I quote in the notes I include with the text of the daily reading, all of the commentary is compiled from those throughout the centuries -- many of them saints -- who devoted themselves to prayer and Scripture throughout their entire lives.  It is those who consecrated themselves to such a way of life whose words we trust to help us to understand Christ, for it is in the quest for that life of grace and holiness He made possible that their understanding has been given to us, and as a gift of the Holy Spirit to the entire Church.  Let us all consider how deepening our prayer and our understanding go hand in hand, for this is where our lives can be centered in trust.  It is, indeed, part of the power of God to open our eyes to what is there, and to what more we may well need to see in faith.  

 

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.

 

 

How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not see 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 see 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 yesterday's reading, Jesus answered and said to the religious leaders who condemned Him for healing on the Sabbath, and were outraged that He made Himself equal with God:  "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 explains that the divine will is common to the three Persons of the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- for they all fully share the same divine nature.  When the Son is said to obey the Father, then, this refers to Christ's human will, which was assumed at His Incarnation.  My study Bible explains that Jesus freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father -- and so are we 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 see 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?"  Commenting on this passage, my study Bible asks, how could Christ's witness ever be untrue?  It cannot (see John 8:14).  Jesus here is, in fact, anticipating the argument and speaking the thoughts of the religious leaders (he does the same thing in Luke 4:23).  My study Bible notes that in Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6).  Here, Jesus offers four witnesses in support of His identity as Son of God.  First, there is God the Father (verses 32, 37, 38); Second, John the Baptist (verses 33-35); Third, He cites His own works which reveal or witness to Him (verse 36); and Fourth, the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and others gave testimony prophesying Him (verses 39-47). 

When Jesus names His four witnesses named by my study Bible above, He tells the religious leaders:  "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 see the honor that comes from the only God?"  What are we to make of these statements?  Jesus draws a clear line here between what are acceptable witnesses and what are not, as He establishes His own choice of witnesses as to His identity as Son.  He says, "I do not receive honor from men."  In a sense, Jesus is challenging all of us to consider where we draw the line in terms of our own "witnesses" to our lives and identities.  By what (or rather, by whom) do we measure ourselves?  How do we take stock of who we are?  What gives a good testimony for us?  Is our honor from men; that is, from other people?  Or by what other measure may we measure ourselves?  Instead of depending upon reputation or the opinion of His contemporaries, Jesus establishes His credentials, so to speak, on the testimony of more highly esteemed witnesses with divine and eternal qualities of the holy:  God the Father, John the Baptist, His words through which His divinity is expressed, and the Old Testament Scriptures which testify to Him.  This invites us to think about what standards we use to measures ourselves.  Are the standards of how we evaluate ourselves those we learn from the Scriptures?  Are they from Christ's words and teachings in the Gospels?  Do we emulate or seek to live up to the conduct of the saints?  Do we follow what we know of God's will for us?  Do we seek to follow Christ's commandment to "love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34)?  Will these be our witnesses to the quality and meaning of our own lives, to our very identity?  Or will our popularity or reputation speak for us?  Will it be the "honor that comes from men" such as a position in the society, or our income and status or possessions?  If we give charitably, is it to be flattered by a public image in the eyes of others, or is it to help the less fortunate?  These are dividing lines that Jesus draws here, between the "honor that comes from men" and the honor that comes from God.  So much depends, really, upon our love for God, as Jesus claims here.  For what we truly love is what (or Whom) we seek to please.  Does our esteem come from pleasing God?  Or is it our own great name in the world that gives us esteem?  We must consider these measurements of our lives at every turn, because each answer will determine what we seek first, whom we seek to please the most.  Jesus gives His answer; let us carefully think about our own.