Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do

 

 Then 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."

 

- John 5:19-29 

 

On Saturday we read that 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.

 

  Then 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."  My study Bible asserts that, as Jesus teaches here that the Son can do nothing of Himself, this proves that His every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  It tells us that this discourse reveals that the Father and the Son are completely united in nature, will, and action.  So, therefore, the Son fully shares the divine attributes of both giving life and executing judgment.  In this discourse, Jesus teaches that His judgment is based on both faith (verse 24) and works (verse 29).

 

 "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."  Jesus says that "the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God . . . "  According to my study Bible, the dead of whom Christ speaks here refers both to the spiritually dead, who will find life in Christ, and to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.  Jesus confirms this when He raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) before He goes to His own death.  These particular verses are read at the Orthodox funeral service, thus confirming the same reward for those who fall asleep in faith.  

 

In the Church, we hear a lot about obedience.  That is, in particular, about obedience toward God.  But it's easy to lose sight of the fact that Jesus -- even as the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God -- first lives in perfect obedience.  For this is certainly an essential part of the Incarnation, as He also willingly conforms His human will to obedience to the Father and in accord with the Holy Spirit in all that He does.  Indeed, in today's reading Jesus affirms that He could not do the things He does except that the Father does them and shows Him.  In all things, He honors the Father.  And, according to what Christ says here, the Father also honors the Son, committing judgment into Christ's hands.  This cooperative reality is one that we, as human beings, strive to emulate, for this is what the Incarnation teaches us.  Indeed, we might assume that it is because of the Incarnation that we are able to do so.  This is true not only because we are to follow Jesus' example that is given to us through His earthly life, but also through the gift we are given ourselves of the Holy Spirit through Baptism and other sacraments and gifts of the Church.  Of course, there is perhaps no greater example of obedience to and cooperation with the Father than Christ's own self-sacrifice on the Cross.  For this understanding, we are given Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane before His arrest and crucifixion (Matthew 26:36-46).  In St. John's chapter 17, Jesus prays to the Father, "I have finished the work which You have given Me to do" (John 17:4).  He then goes on to pray for the disciples and all believers, His prayer showing to us His human concerns and His great love (John 17).  Of course, we know of His love in the statement, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  Through all of Christ's teachings and His works, He shows us, through the disciples, that obedience to God is obedience to love.  St. John himself will write that God is love (1 John 4:8).  In the shared love and honor of the Holy Trinity we find a perfect love, and Christ has come into the world to invite us to participate in that love as well.  We may, as human beings, confuse calls to obedience with imperfect love, even abusive relationships that abuse our love, but this is not the place to which Christ calls us.  He first sets the example, and teaches us how the Father loves Him, and of the love shared between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and this honor and obedience He invites us to share, and makes possible by grace through the Incarnation.  Let us ponder these tremendous mysteries and find the ways to live our faith and this love offered to us through Christ, for this is where He teaches that judgment, and life, will be as well. 

 

 

 

 

Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things

 

 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  

 

"But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."  

 

- Matthew 21:23–32 

 

Yesterday we read that, following His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read,  'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"  Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  Now in the morning as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

 

 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  Because Christ is not a Levitical priest, the chief priests and the elders now challenge His authority to cleanse the temple (in yesterday's reading, above).  My study Bible explains that, as Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, He confounds His questioners with another question about John (that is, John the Baptist).  Both the elders' question and Christ's question ask for the same answer, and therefore would lead a person to confess that Jesus has come from heaven.  In not answering them directly, my study Bible tells us, Christ teaches us not to answer people who come asking about holy things with a malicious intent. 

 

 "But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."   My study Bible comments that by using their own principles, the elders convict themselves in their answer to Christ's parable.  

 

It's an intriguing comment on Jesus' response to the chief priests and elders that is made by my study Bible on today's reading.  My study Bible remarks that Jesus replies to their question with another different question of His own, as Christ "is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers."  In a time when seemingly all things are available on the internet (including an increasing number of claims and stories which are not true at all, and often are concocted through Artificial Intelligence), it seems a rather quaint notion that there are things that are preferable to remain hidden from scoffers and others who make inquiries with a malicious intent.  But it gives us an important taste of what it means that things are holy.  To be holy or sacred first of all means that such things are "set apart."  This is the story of God's formation of the people of Israel, that they were called out of the world to be set apart as a holy people, dedicated to Yahweh, to the God we know.  Jesus' story mirrors the same, as when He says to the disciples at the Last Supper, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:18-19).  This expression by Jesus, "I chose you out of the world," echoes the powerful call to Israel that we could say started with Abraham, a people chosen out of the world to be set apart, to be holy; that is, dedicated to God.  When we think of the holy things of our churches and our faith, perhaps we should more often consider the same.  Our church services (at least those which are based on the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) still make a provision for catechumens to leave before the Holy Eucharist.  We forget that there are powerful mysteries to our churches, and that some indeed remain only for those who are prepared for it and prepared to receive, for those who have chosen to dedicate themselves in faith.  Again, a modern age seeks all kinds of information, even information which people are not necessarily prepared to use wisely, for this is the nature that the internet and social media magnifies and spreads like wildfire.  But perhaps even at such a time we should consider more wisely what it means not to reveal holy things to scoffers, to those who don't ask sincerely.  To use the modern parlance of popular psychology, it's an important boundary to consider.  In fact, there are boundaries of all kinds that we'd be better off respecting, such as those of personal privacy, even integrity.  Not every opinion needs to be known -- and certainly every opinion does not need to be judged by the public, nor by mobs of people with no concern for the boundary of respect for other people.  But the sacred needs to be prized by us, set apart, put in its proper place in our hearts and in our lives so that we cherish what needs to be cherished, and that is what Jesus is so cleverly doing here with His reply of a question about the baptism of John the Baptist.  To this day, in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, we hear in the Communion Prayer, "O Son of God, receive me today as a partaker of Your mystical supper. For I will not speak of the mystery to Your enemies, nor will I give You a kiss, as did Judas. But like the thief, I confess to You: Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom."   If we look carefully at all of Scripture, we find that everything begins with the creation of the world we know through meaningful boundaries.  The Spirit hovers over the waters of chaos, and creates all of the cosmos by separating and distinguishing, creating boundaries, and filling them with good things (see Genesis 1).  Even the garden of Eden is distinguished as a special garden planted by God in a particular place, and in that sense, separated and taken out of the world.  For humankind, God places a particular tree of knowledge of good and evil off-limits, as yet another boundary to respect, for human beings were not yet wise enough for that.  Well, we know the rest of the story.   Jesus, as Lord, teaches us the same particular respect for the sacred boundaries of life, the separation that keeps things holy.  Again, in the Divine Liturgy, the priest declares of Communion, "the holy gifts for the holy people of God."  In a modern age in which there seems to be a great drive to overturn all boundaries wherever possible, let us consider instead the importance of the sacred and what it means to respect the holy as such.  For we all need the proper boundaries of respect for the soul, the tender things of the heart, and the gifts of the sacred that teach us that all life, at its heart, is holy.  For when we lose this relationship to Creator, we lose the meanings of life God gives us.

 

 

 

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 spending two days among the Samaritans (see readings from Thursday, Friday, and Saturday),  He 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 hard 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!"  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.  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.  This pool was a double-basin pool which was believed to have curative powers.  My study Bible says that this pool has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  It notes that the water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs, and it was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  Moreover, my study Bible comments, this pool functions as a type of Christian baptism, reflecting meanings which transition from the old to the new covenant.  Under the old, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  These waters, it explains, were special because they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, as the animals were washed in the same water.  But the grace was limited in this case to only the first person to enter.  But under the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations, and it is a direct participation in the sacrificial death of Christ (Romans 6:3-6), without the mediation of angels.  Baptism, my study Bible comments, therefore grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body -- and moreover, its grace is inexhaustible.  We recall Christ's words to the Samaritan woman, from Thursday's reading, "But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

 

 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who comments here that Jesus singled out the man who had waited for thirty-eight years so that we are taught to have perseverance.  Additionally it is a type of judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting 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 says that Christ's question is relevant for several reasons.  First, it made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith although in a situation that was seemingly hopeless. How could a paralytic ever be the first into the water?  Second, Christ draws attention away from the water, and toward the concept that we need a man to help us.  Of course, it is Christ who fulfills this need, as He became a Man in order to heal all people.  Finally, not all those who are ill actually desire healing.  This is linked to a psychological preference to remain infirm in order to be free to complain, to avoid responsibility for their lives, or to continue to stimulate pity in others.

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'?"  We remember that in John's Gospel, the majority of the use of the term the Jews is used like a political term, to designate the leadership (Jesus and all the others in this story are also Jews, as well as John the author of the Gospel).  My study Bible comments here that although the Law itself doesn't specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and also explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  It notes that the understanding that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath becomes clear in His command to the man ("Rise, take up your bed and walk"), and then by the man's obedience to Him.  We may also observe the malice in these leaders, who focus only on the violation of the Sabbath, by asking, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" and ignoring completely the healing of this man who'd suffered for such a long time.  

 

 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."   My study Bible notes that this healed man is found in the temple, emphasizing that it shows his great faith.  He had gone there directly to thank God for his cure rather than leaving for someone's home or the marketplace.  Jesus tells him, "Sin no more."  My study Bible comments on this that as there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), this connection is, however, not always one-to-one.  Clearly, the innocent often suffer, and the guilty are often spared from earthly sufferings (see also John 9:1-3).  But nonetheless, sometimes our sins do lead directly to our own worldly suffering.  According to St. Chrysostom, such was the case with the paralytic.  Jesus' warning, however, is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body, my study Bible notes.  Our only hope is fleeing from sin.

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  My study Bible explains that the man doesn't report Jesus to the religious leaders of the Jews in a malicious way, but rather he is witness to Christ's goodness.  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 said 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.  My study Bible says that when Jesus declares God to be My Father, these religious leaders clearly understand that it implies absolute equality.  In the following reading, Jesus will continue to express this unity.

 

Jesus says to the healed former paralytic, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  At first glance, it might appear that Jesus is Himself issuing a threat to this man, as some kind of punishment or retribution.  But with God, this is not the case.  It is similar to John's teaching to Nicodemus:  "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."  The explanation here is not that one is offered a punishment for refusal of Christ.  But it is communion with Christ that confers the healing and the grace and the redemption.  Therefore to run from this communion, to refuse it, or to participate in that which runs counter to it and is against it, is to reject the grace, healing, and redemption offered by Christ.  When we're talking about our faith, it is important to understand the impact and power of communion, of participation in the life of Christ.  Whatever it is that cuts us off from that communion works against the dividends of faith.  We have a great grace working for us, and we are given much mercy so long as we are capable of repentance, redemption, of seeking out God.  But our own refusal jeopardizes that capacity, and works to blind us to the ways God would have us go toward God and receive that light.  If we observe the effects of Christ's presence in the Gospels -- and particularly in the progression of events in John's Gospel -- we will notice that while those who are in some way healed or redeemed by Christ continue moving more deeply into faith and communion with Him, as the same story progresses the religious leaders who refuse Him and wish to condemn Him only draw further away, even as they draw themselves into more deeply blindly sinful and corrupt behavior in condemning One whom they know to be innocent.  When we are warned about the effects of sin, it's not for punishment but for our protection and good, like a parent warning a child about touching a hot stove.  The healing in today's reading constitutes the third sign of seven given in John's Gospel.  My study Bible claims that this sign exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness.  According to patristic sources, this feast which Jesus is attending is the Old Testament Pentecost (also called the "Feast of Weeks") which celebrated the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  Later references in this chapter to the Law of Moses affirm this interpretation.  So let us think about the "law" of participation and communion.  We are to understand that whatever breaks or harms this relationship also does harm to our capacity to receive God's grace and healing power.  In the thoughts of the Church, our very lives are dependent upon God; therefore to jeopardize our deeper or closer faith is to jeopardize the life in abundance we're promised, and all the things that might mean.  Let us pay attention to the law of God's love.

 

 

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you

 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another.

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.' 

"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

- John 15:12-27

In our current readings, Jesus is giving His farewell discourse to the disciples at the Last Supper (starting with Monday's reading).  Yesterday, we read that Jesus told them, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.  As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."

 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."   This is the second time Jesus has made this statement. My study bible tells us that many religions and philosophies teach people to love one another.   But what makes this commandment new (as Jesus calls it in 13:34) is the measure required of our love:  we are called to love as Christ has loved us.  Christ laid down His life not only for His friends, but even for His enemies.

"You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another."  We note the use of the word friends.  But Jesus is also giving commands.   Friendship, notes my study bible, is higher than servanthood.  Servants obey their masters our of fear or a sense of duty; friends obey out of love and an internal desire to do what is good and right.  Abraham, for example, was called a 'friend of God' (James 2:23) because he obeyed God out of the belief of his heart.  The disciples and all the saints are honored as friends of Christ because they freely obey His commandments out of love.  My study bible adds that those who have this spirit of loving obedience are open to receive and understand the revelations of the Father.

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own.  Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.  But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.' "  The term the world is used in several distinct ways in Scripture, says my study bible.  Sometimes it is used to refer to all that is glorious, beautiful, and redeemable in the creation of God (3:16).  At other times, it indicates the finite in contrast to that which is eternal (11:9; 18:36).  At still other times, it indicates that which is in rebellion against God (see also 8:23).  The rebellion of the world against God is in itself a revelation of several things, as follows.  First, while the union with Christ brings love, truth, and peace, it will also bring persecution -- because the world hates love and truth (v. 19).  Second, the world hated Christ; therefore it will hate those who try to be Christlike (v. 20).  Third, the world hates Christ because it neither knows nor desires to know the Father (v. 21-24).  Fourth, the hatred for Jesus Christ is irrational and unreasonable, because Christ brings love and mercy.  Therefore, He is hated without a cause (v. 25).

"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."  As to the working of God's salvation in the world, the Son sends the Holy Spirit from the Father.  This gives us the teaching of theology, that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father -- He receives His eternal existence from the Father.  The Source or Fountainhead of both Son and Spirit is the Father.

Love, obedience, friendship, commandments -- and a Helper who is the Spirit of truth from the Father -- all of these things combine in Christ's words and teachings.  And hatred is here, too.  Christ's experience in giving His love to the world is not lost to His disciples, either.  This, too, will become a part of the life of one who chooses to love Christ, to follow His commandments, to be like Him.  There is a rejection to face that comes along with this love.  Therein is the great paradox of our God and the Lord whom we love.  God does not compel us to love God!  Love does not compel; it invites loyalty, emulation, esteem, obedience.  And there is something deeply important in the good news of the sending of the Helper, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete in the Greek (one who "comes by our side when called" to paraphrase the meaning of the word), our counselor or advocate.  That is that He is called the Spirit of truth.  We will find that we are capable of loving many things in the world; human beings are capable of giving their preferences and favor to all kinds of things.  But here is the one thing needed, the way, the truth, and the life.  If we would be His friends, we obey His commands of love.  Not as the world gives and loves, but the peace and joy of His love.  Even in the face of hate.