If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing

 

 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  

 

Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  

 

Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 

- John 8:47-59 

 In our current readings, Jesus is attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem (beginning from this reading).  He has been disputing with the religious leaders.   In yesterday's reading, they answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.  How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.  I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."  They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."  Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.  But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this.  You do the deeds of your father."  Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God."  Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word.  You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which of you convicts Me of sin?  And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

 

  "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"   Today's reading begins with Christ's final statement to the religious leaders from yesterday's reading.  As these authorities in the temple are unable to defeat Christ through logic or truth, my study Bible comments, here they begin to resort to personal insult (see also John 9:34).  

Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  Once again, Jesus speaks regarding potential witnesses to His identity, as if offering testimony.  He will not testify of Himself, as He says for it is not for Him to honor Himself.  But the Father bears witness and honors Him -- and they do not know God the Father.  Then He offers another witness from the Scriptures, father Abraham.

 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.  Here Jesus uses the divine Name of God from the Old Testament, first revealed to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15).  This is the use of the I AM (Ἐγώ εἰμι/Ego eimi) here by Christ, in this particular context, which these men of the Council understand completely.  To them, my study Bible says, this was a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God.  Therefore, this is what they clearly evidence by their reaction (Then they took up stones to throw at Him . . .).  (See also Mark 14:62-64.)   My study Bible adds that St. John places special emphasis on the use of this Name in order to clearly reveal Christ as God.  This divine claim, it says, illuminates Christ's authority, which is even over death (verse 52), which is a power that belongs only to God the Father.

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

 

Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it

 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

- Matthew 7:13-21

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  We began with the Beatitudes, then we read You are the salt of the earth, Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill, Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, Let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, Pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly, Our Father in heaven, You cannot serve God and mammon, and Your heavenly Father knows you need all these things.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus preached, " "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye;'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.  Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.  Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."  My study bible tells us that the description of "two ways" was widespread in Judaism (see for example Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Proverbs 4:17-18, 12:28).  We also find it in early Christian writings such as the Didache and Barnabas.   In Luke's version (Luke 13:24-30), there is a more eschatological focus, as it refers to the end of the age.   My study bible says that because we restle against sins and human weaknesses as well as spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12), entering the Kingdom is therefore the more difficult way.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them."   Again there is a warning about hypocrisy here, this time a warning to beware of false prophets -- those who put on a show of religion and are inwardly something quite different.  My study bible says that this type of deceit in religious guise is much more dangerous than evil outright.  It invites us to an even deeper caution among those who are outwardly virtuous!    By their fruits you will know them finds a reflection in the teachings of John the Baptist.  In Matthew 3:10, John says exactly the same thing:  "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  Jesus is preparing His disciples for the future, and by their fruits you will know them remains a watchword for us now.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."  And here the eschatological emphasis becomes especially clear.  Ultimately, this is all about Judgment, the age which is initiated even by the call of John the Baptist.   It is an explicit kind of call to discipleship, one that relies on a depth of relationship to God, and not with those whose virtue is only outward.  This is also an explicit statement linking Christ to the Lord of the Old Testament, and thus the divine name "Yahweh"  (for which the title the Lord - "adonai" -  was interchangeable).  "The will of My Father" establishes His relationship to God the Father, and also that they share this will.  It is clearly a statement that He is Judge, a place only God can fill.

 The eschatological nature of this reality can't be mistaken in Jesus' statements, which clearly pertain to the Judgment -- the end of the age.  This is the reality initiated even by the call of John the Baptist to "Prepare the way of the Lord."  This is the time of the end, even the time we are in now, the time initiated by the coming of the Lord as human being.  It's important that we understand this focus, and the reality of Christ's life, what it meant and means for the time that we live in now.  "End times" aren't just about what might happen someday.  They happen even as we live our lives now, they unfold in the period in which we live, this "age" that began with Incarnation, the visit of our Lord, "God with us."  As such, this understanding colors the ways we see our lives and the ways in which we live our lives.  Jesus doesn't tell us to follow blindly any leader who seems to be holy.  He tells us something really different.  We are to practice discernment.  He wants rational sheep, not blind obedience to those who are themselves blind.   This is a part of the call to a depth of relationship to God.  It's a part of the call against hypocrisy, Jesus' emphasis on the internal life of the heart, on purity of heart.  All of it fits together, no matter which way we look at it.  It is all a part of the ministry that teaches that God is Spirit and is looking for those who can worship in spirit and in truth.  He's teaching those of us who would be His disciples just what that means for us, how we are to be in this world, how we are to follow His Way.   It is part of the more difficult way.   We must carry light in the world, light in our eyes against the darkness of blindness, as we carry His Kingdom within us.  He calls us to be awake and alert.  This is what it is to do the will of My Father in heaven.  We are in a time of the end, it doesn't come later, it's now, a reality with us.   We are to make His paths straight, as the Baptist said, quoting Isaiah the Prophet.   Jesus teaches us what it is to be on this straight path, this way (the word in Greek means "road") -- His Way.

Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed to you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

- Luke 3:1-14

Over the course of the past several readings, we have been finishing the current lectionary selections on the Gospel of John.  Last week, we read through Jesus' Farewell Discourse to His Apostles.  See  In My Father's house are many mansions;   Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you;  I am the vine, you are the branches;  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you;  When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth and That your joy may be full.   This week, we have read through Jesus' final prayer to the Father before His betrayal and arrest.  On Monday, Jesus prayed, "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."  On Tuesday, He continued, regarding His Apostles and those to follow, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."  In yesterday's reading, Jesus prayed, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.   Today the lectionary cycle again takes us through readings in the Gospel of Luke.  Luke is careful to set us down historically in the place where we start reading in the Gospel.  My study bible has notes on the several figures mentioned here.  Of Tiberias, it notes that he "ruled as sole Roman emperor in A.D. 14-37, but had authority over the provinces from A.D. 11 on.  Thus the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus began sometime between A.D. 26 and 28.  Pilate was governor of Judea from A.D. 26-36."  "Caiaphas," it notes, "was the sole official high priest (A.D. 18-36), but people recognized behind him the power of his father-in-law, Annas, a previous high priest deposed by the Romans."  We note the language here:  the "word of God came to John . . . in the wilderness."  We call the Gospels the word, as Scripture is the living Word.  But above all, as John's Gospel revealed to us, we know Christ as the Word.  There are all kinds of ways in which "the word" comes to us:  but where the Word is there is also the Spirit and the Father.

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  My study bible tells us that "the call to repentance was typical of the Old Testament prophets, but John's baptism for the remission of sins sounds a deeper note:  a symbolic washing away of sins, prefiguring that which will come.  As Paul writes in Rom. 6:1-6, those who come to Christ will be buried with Him in baptism, rising to new life."  Of the quotation from Isaiah (40:3-5 and 52:10), it tells us, "Isaiah the prophet foresaw the momentous significance of the period of the Messiah and the preparation necessary for it." 

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  My study bible tells us, "Ethnic or 'spiritual' ancestry does not guarantee security in the face of God's judgment.  Only faithful repentance and good works worthy of it bring salvation.  Stones symbolize Gentile Christians who became children of God."

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed to you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."  The emphasis here is on "making the way straight" for the Lord.  The types of action John suggests to the people who practice repentance here are all ways of expressing that "every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth":  that is, those with wealth shall help to care for those who haven't, the tax collectors should not extort extra money but do a fair job and require honestly only as much as people truly owe, the soldiers should not use their power to collect from others through intimidation, false "protection" or false accusations against others.  In each way, this is "leveling" and "making the way straight" for the Lord.

In some way we can see reflected in the words of Isaiah the song of Mary at the Annunciation, which comes in chapter 1 of Luke's Gospel.  The lectionary cycle now starts at chapter 3, but let us go to chapter 1 to teach us about Mary and her song:  "He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant . . . He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.  He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty."  We have, in so many ways in the Gospels, the lifting up of the lowly, the leveling of the ways of the Lord, the making the crooked ways straight.  And we can see this reflected over and over in the Gospels in many dimensions and through many teachings and meanings.  Jesus will teach, in Matthew's Gospel (20:25-28), "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  The Lord has a way of lifting up the lowly, of bringing down those who are too high to relate as they must, of accomplishing His methods through what is straight and not crooked, including the hearts that are pure and capable of love, and those characters that are straightforward in loving the truth.  All of this is a sign that points to the greatest truth of the Gospels, the manifestation to us of the Word Himself in human form.  St. Athanasius of Alexandria has written,  "For He was made man that we might be made God"  ("Section 54", On the Incarnation) and St. Augustine has told us, "If we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods" ("Psalm 50", Exposition of the Book of Psalms).  So these great Fathers of the Early Church are teaching us about what is often called the condescension of God to us, although the word "condescension" now means something quite different in common parlance than the great love and truth that it is meant to teach us.  God lifts up the lowly in the ways that are beyond our understanding.  Out of love God comes to redeem and to make new, to transform, to turn us all into children of God should we also respond back with our love.  The "stones" that my study bible tells us are symbolic of the Gentiles are those which can be used to pave this road, to prepare this Way, to "make His paths straight."  As children of God, anything is possible with God.  Let us remember His condescension and love, let us remember the Word, and why, and how, in so many ways, it is present to us and is waiting for us.  Let us practice His love and truth, as He has taught us, and become sons and children of God through His adoption.