What is truth?

Icon of Christ the Bridegroom, by Theologic (found here).  Title reads "Behold the Man" (John 19:5)

 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.  Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."

- John 18:28-38

 Yesterday we read that, after Jesus' arrest, Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple.  Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.  But Peter stood at the door outside.  Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.  Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, "You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?"  He said, "I am not."  Now the servants and officers who made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves.  And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. . . . Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself.  Therefore they said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?"  He denied it and said, "I am not!"  One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"  Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.

 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.   The religious leaders take Jesus to the governor, Pilate.  My study bible cites commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who notes the irony that Christ's accusers do not fear being defiled by condemning an innocent Man to death -- but they would not set foot into a court of justice.

 Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," . . .    My study bible explains that, since the chief priests of the Jews had no actual crime with which they could accuse Jesus to the Roman state, Pilate refused to pass judgment.   When the chief priests say, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," they are not referring to the Law of Moses, but rather to the laws of Roman occupation.  The Romans reserved the right for themselves only to execute people.  Therefore, the chief priests were relying on Pilate to sentence Jesus to death.

. . . that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.   Under Jewish law, stoning was the prescribed usual means of execution.  But Christ has prophesied that He would be killed by being lifted up on the Cross (3:14; 8:28; 12:32-33), expressing the foreknowledge that He would die, not at the hands of the Jews, but by the Roman state method of crucifixion. 

 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"   My study bible comments that it is unheard of that the accused would have to name charges against himself in any court, since it is the captors who would be the ones to name the crime.  That Pilate has to ask Jesus what the charges are shows that the chief priests could name no crime that He might have committed (see the previous verses above).   Moreover, it shows that Jesus was Lord over the events of His death (see also verses 4, 8 which take place at the time of His arrest).  Even the governor has to come to Him in order for the trial to proceed.

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."  My study bible says that although Pilate knows Jesus is innocent of any crime, he attempts to strike a compromise with the Jews by declaring Christ to be guilty, but will seek to free Him on account of Passover (verses 39-40).   He seeks to placate the chief priests with an official declaration of guilt, but avoid the unjust punishment of Christ through the traditional clemency practiced on the Passover.

Jesus says to Pilate: "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  And Pilate responds:  "What is truth?"  These important statements in some sense can be understood to sum up the whole of the Gospel of John.  Jesus speaks of bearing witness to the truth.  Moreover, He declares that those who are of the truth hear His voice.   It is in John's Gospel that Jesus declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" to His disciples at the Last Supper (14:6).  Pilate is right to ask, "What is truth?" as this is a truth that is more than simply facts on the ground, an article in an encyclopedia, a newspaper story, or some kind of report on a subject we seek to know more about.  Truth, in Jesus' sense, is inclusive of, but much more than ascertaining the guilt or innocence of a person on trial, and obtaining witness statements.  This truth is an entire field of reality, and it is connected to a Person.  Or, if we want to take it as Jesus has pronounced it, truth is a Person.  This is a special kind of a person, not one exactly like you or like me, but a Person who is divine, a creator of our world.  And thus, Jesus is the truth, and also bears witness to the truth.  This is the reality behind all that is, and it is that field of existence, the one that truly gives us life, of which Jesus is sent in order to bear witness, to testify for us about all that truly is.  He seeks to reconnect us with our Source, our origins in that truth.  And when He speaks of bearing witness to the truth -- even revealing this boldly and plainly to Pilate -- we must understand that it is all of this to which He refers, and so much more that we cannot know, that remains for us to discover in our journey of faith which lasts a lifetime and beyond a lifetime.  When Pilate asks then, "What is truth?" we should not scoff and we should not simply remark upon some kind of flaw of character in him, for at least Pilate knows that he does not know what Jesus is talking about.  Pilate's question gives over to the perspective that he is, in fact, outside of this truth and has no exposure to it.  And so, he asks, "What is truth?"  While we may speculate that perhaps, as Pilate is presumably a well-educated man, educated in the Greek and Roman system of his time and prepared for public service to the Roman Empire, he may be asking a philosophical question.  Whatever is behind it, Pilate shows that he is in some sense outside of the "system" or "field" of the capacity to perceive this truth.  Pilate reflects very much a modern mindset of a particular kind, in which truth is only what lies in formal education, popular understanding, or a certain kind of zeitgeist -- the "energy" of the time.  But the truth of which Christ speaks is always there and it is also eternal.  It is precisely because the truth Christ refers to is personal -- that it is, in fact, a Person -- that we may commune and participate in it.  We may have relatedness and relationship in it and with it.  This is where the recognition comes in that Christ tries to speak of before Pilate.  This truth, the Person who is truth, is also the Person who is love, for God is love.  And love makes possible the interrelation between persons who are "of" the truth to hear His voice.  St. John writes, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  It is this field of love, which is God, in which we find Christ's truth.  It is there where the gate or door is opened to the sheep who hear His voice (10:9).  It is this field of love where we find truth, the truth that makes us free, indeed, of all the misleading missteps that would teach us half- or partial truths about what love is and isn't; it is this field of love that defines our reality and lights our way on the path that opens up a deeper understanding, gives us the discipline we need, teaches us how to participate and know a greater love than we know from our less-than-perfect lives.  That is the truth into which we are invited in communion and relationship, in which we have a home and a way that we may go forward.  Pilate asks rightly, "What is truth?" because this is the question of the world.  And the One who stands in front of Pilate, awaiting judgment, is the answer.

The image above is an icon called "Christ the Bridegroom."  It is also considered to be an icon of marriage.   As our Bridegroom, He humbles Himself for us before Pilate, as a prisoner.  The Bridegroom is the judge of all, and yet He submits to be judged by one who must ask, "What is truth?"  As our Bridegroom, He sacrifices all out of love for us.  Christ the Bridegroom is an image of the mutual devotion and love in marriage, the two becoming one flesh (Mark 10:7-8), as Christ becomes one flesh with us in His humanity, and suffers voluntary for us.

By what authority are You doing these things?

Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered an said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  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,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

- Luke 20:1-8

In Saturday's reading, we read that as Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you dd not know the time of your visitation."  Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house in a house of prayer, but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  My study bible tells us that the chief priests, scribes and elders are confronting Jesus about these things He's done:  coming into Jerusalem in His Triumphal Entry as Messiah, cleansing the temple, and also preaching in the temple (see Saturday's reading above).    It's their duty they think they are doing:  the priestly descendants of Levi manage the temple.  My study bible says, "While Christ was descended from Judah (3:33), yet He is the High Priest 'according to the order of Melchizedek' (Psalm 110:4), a priestly line far greater than that of Levi, for His authority is from the Father."

But He answered an said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  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,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."    In Saturday's reading, we were told that the leaders of the people sought to destroy Jesus, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.  Their fear of the crowds is very much known and stated here; it's an important factor in all that happens.  But the gospels don't view this as a positive thing; for Christ it is the opinion of God that counts.  Crowds are fickle and can be stirred even to encourage the reprehensible via manipulation. 

For us moderns, it may seem strange that the opinion of the crowd doesn't count for much in the point of view of the books of the Gospel.  We live in a time in which not only is democracy valued very highly, but we click onto the internet and we find instant polls of every kind:  "Click this button to vote no, and this button to vote yes."  It's almost as if we are constantly being asked and monitored to give our opinions on some issue of the day, or even more telling, our own judgment about some person and what we think they did.   Instant celebrity means instant opinion polls, and instant publicity, wanted or unwanted.  Most of the time, the things we "click" instantly to give an opinion have a reason beyond just gauging public opinion or allowing us to voice what we think.  They're meant to give information that helps in terms of advertising; data is collected in order to find what appeals to people and what does not.  It doesn't really matter what our opinions are or whether or not they are correct.  These polls are not scientifically based using statistical methods anyway.  Anybody who can make a "click" or even thousands of clicks in an instant via some sort of manipulation can get their opinion counted.  It all depends on who shows up.  And in the Gospels, it's a similar story.  There are followers of Christ welcoming Him as Messiah into Jerusalem, there are those who are against Him, and there are also many who simply don't know.  The opinions of the people throughout the four gospels run through them like a Greek chorus.  And they also change.  And it is this fickle, impulsive, easily-manipulated crowd (especially those who will shout to crucify Him) that the leadership in the temple fear.  Christ is the opposite model.  He is here on a mission, led by the Father to give His great good news, the Gospel itself.  He will face the leadership, the crowds, the world -- and to this day His Gospel continues to do the same.  He has stated for us, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body."   John's gospel disparagingly treats those who love the praise of men more than the praise of God.  Christ remains the hero who comes to save -- and His mission is offering salvation even to those who will reject Him.  It is a mission of fearlessness:  or rather a mission dedicated to God, and there is nothing that gets in His way, no other opinion is as powerful or as true.  He gives us the truth, not the whims of crowds.  This is what He values.  There are plenty of images from recent history to draw His same lesson from, whether it is the huge crowds who were swayed by Hitler's speeches, or a lynch mob that tortures and hangs an innocent human being.  And we mustn't forget that it is also John who gives us the story of the woman taken in adultery, and that it is Jesus who steps up with the truth to keep her from being stoned by the crowd.  The first martyr, St. Stephen, was also stoned by a crowd, among whom was Saul of Tarsus, who then became a vicious persecutor of the Church, and later would be called St. Paul, its great apostle.  Let us not rely on the crowds.  Let us follow Christ in His heroic mission, which we are invited always to become a part of.  We can be His disciples, and fix our faith on spiritual truth, rooted in the love of God and the faith that God loves us.

Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM

 "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 has been at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  (See the earlier readings beginning last Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.)   At the current stage of events, Jesus has been in confrontation with the leadership, primarily the Pharisees, after they unsuccessfully tried to have Him arrested.  Yesterday, we read that 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?"   Once again, we remember that in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is used primarily to refer to the leadership of the temple.  All of the people here, believers and non-believers, are Jews.  My study bible says that Samaritans were viewed as demon-possessed heretics.  Jesus is from Galilee, to the north, on the other side of Samaria.  Those who've defended Jesus have earlier been "slurred" by being accused of being Galileans as well (see John 7:50-52).

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."  Here we are given another promise by Jesus.  The words are explicit and clear as to His identity.

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?"   Again, John's Gospel uses the misunderstanding to create understanding.  They hear a "temporal" or earthly speech; and Jesus is speaking of what transcends the world and yet is in the midst of it.  The difference between the two serves for us to consider what happening, what Jesus is saying.  It is the key to consideration of His identity.

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."   Again, the words are explicit and clear.  Jesus even states His motivation here:   If He denies His relationship to God the Father, He would be a liar, but "I do know Him and keep His word."

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."  The I AM makes it completely clear.  My study bible tells us, "I AM (Greek ego eimi) is a name of God in the Old Testament, first revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:13-15; Is. 43:10; see also John 4:26; 6:20; 8:24, 28; 13:19; 18:5-8).  To the Jews this pronouncement was a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God.  John places special emphasis on the use of the expression for the purpose of revealing Christ as God.  In context, this statement illuminates what He began saying in verse 51, that those who keep His word will never see nor taste death.  Only God has power over death, and Jesus is claiming such power." 

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.  They take up stones to put Him to death on the spot, but it is not yet His hour.  A note explains, "The Jews regarded Jesus' claim to be one with God as the most abominable form of blasphemy.  They took up stones because death by stoning was the penalty for blasphemy required by the Mosaic Law.  But Jesus departs from their midst by divine power, without being harmed."

What always strikes me about Jesus in these scenes in John's Gospel is His explicit announcement of His identity as Son.  There's no hesitancy.  It is a complete confrontation with the authorities who will not understand Him, and will not accept what He's saying.  He knows where He is headed.  When He says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM," it is with absolutely clear understanding that they know the I AM reference.  He does not beat around the bush (if one will pardon an unintentional pun).  But it's not His time yet.  It's not His hour.  That will come not in the temple in an abrupt gathering of stones in outrage, but through a carefully orchestrated hearing before the Council, machinations before Pilate and Herod and all the gears and machinery of the Roman state -- episodes in which all the intent and protections of the laws both of the Jewish religious establishment and the Roman state law will be somehow violated, deliberately outmaneuvered.  The death that is to come will be explicitly public, and it will be the product of deliberations and manipulations -- with the full weight of all official rule behind it.  Everybody will have a chance to reconsider before this final culmination of His human life.  So, at this time, even in their outrage and preparation for stoning, it is not yet time, and Jesus hides Himself and goes out of the temple.  These paradoxical-seeming events make us wonder, what is testimony?  There is a time for Jesus to make His confrontations, and a time when He does not reveal Himself fully.  There is a time when He hides Himself, and there will be a time when He hides nothing, and experiences the fullness of prosecution on every level, such as it was in the institutions of the time.  But here, He shrinks from nothing in His emphasis on the truth, and His contrast of the desire for truth which is bound up in His love for God, His Father, with what He calls the father of lies (see yesterday's reading).   One may only conclude that each of these confrontations, building up inevitably to the final outcome, are for one purpose:  to give those to whom He speaks more time, to remind them of what they already know, to make purposefully and clearly understood that He is hiding nothing about Himself of what He is here to reveal.  Whether He is accepted or rejected, one thing is absolute in what He is presenting here:  God has sent Him, and He will not abandon that truth or that mission, He will not lie to please those who are outraged by Him, He will carry out His mission.  Witnessing is a difficult thing.  Throughout His ministry, Jesus is careful to go one step at a time, until it is truly time for this confrontation.  He doesn't rush anything.  His disciples gradually come to their faith, or the fullness of it. Even now, they don't understand everything He does or says.  But when the time comes for Him to make this confrontation, He does it with the fullness of what is given to Him to do.  He sticks with the truth that He is given to reveal.  At all times everything goes back to the Father, even the timing of His eventual hour, His Passion, crucifixion, and Resurrection.  What this says to my mind is something important about how we make decisions, how we decide to witness in our lives, and that is the essential choice of prayer to guide our actions.  There is no formula "at all times" that is completely clear about what we are to do in terms of explicit right way or wrong way we are to say this or say that.  Following Jesus' example, we rely on God to show us the way.  In Luke's Gospel, when Jesus warns His followers about the persecutions to come after He is gone, He tells them, "Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say" (Luke 12:11-12).  If we look at His example, what we find is that there is an appropriate time to all things, and that what He calls us to is not complacence with a memorized formula or a particular set of things we always do, but rather the wakefulness, the mindfulness of communion with God, of prayer with Him, a sense of service that is in the heart and waiting His word.  Let us remember the fullness to which He calls us, the presence He invokes, the watchfulness He calls us toward.  He has set for us the fullness of His example.

How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

 On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.'  Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate, and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

- Luke 13:31-35

In yesterday's reading, Jesus teaching, and He asked, "What is the kingdom of God like?  And to what shall I compare it?  It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches."  And again He said, "To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.  Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?"  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.  When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'  But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from.  Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.  They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.  And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."

 On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  My study bible tells us that "this warning of some Pharisees may well be sincere, or it could be a cunning way to get Jesus to Judea so they could enforce their authority against Him.  Herod Antipas imprisoned and beheaded John the Baptist."  Herod was the ruler of Galilee; Jerusalem is in Judea, governed by Pontius Pilate.

And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.'"  A note tells us that "Jesus does not mince words in calling Herod fox for his sly craftiness.  Perfected refers to the completion of Jesus' mission through His Passion and Resurrection in Jerusalem.  He has nothing to fear from Herod."  This word for "perfected" in Greek has the meaning of perfected, but its root is "finish" or "fulfilled," meaning "to the end," "complete."  Nothing will jeopardize Jesus' mission.

"Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem."  My study bible tells us, "Jerusalem, the center of religious authority, often was the site of the judgment and persecution of God's prophets.  Jesus speaks with prophetic irony here."

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!"  Of this verse my study bible says, "Jesus' tender lament and judgment over unrepentant Jerusalem show He loves His adversaries as we are to love ours."  It's a statement about rejection, and yet a willing love on Jesus' part, a longing to care for those who are His children.

"See!  Your house is left to you desolate, and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  My study bible says that "the time referred to is Palm Sunday, when Jesus will be acclaimed at His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem." 

There is such a deep lament here in Jesus' words about Jerusalem.  The implication is that He's been watching over Jerusalem for many years, for centuries -- that is, over the Jerusalem that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.  Who has sent them?  Was it Christ who wanted so often to gather Jerusalem's children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, they they were not willing?  This is the implication in the verses.  And desolate the city is left, and all Christ does is lament!  Our choices are important; they may have devastating effects upon our lives, and yet it is our freedom that is the most absolute part of ourselves.  Christ Himself does not interfere with this, but rather implores with love, and repeatedly sends prophets and saints, and those who tell us of God's word.  The welcome, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" is the one that will be shouted upon His welcome to Jerusalem, at the beginning of Holy Week, the start of His Passion, and death and Resurrection.  This welcome is the welcome of the Messiah, and yet it is the end of His mission into this world.  Those who would be His children now are those by adoption.  In chapter 8, Luke tells us that Jesus teaches, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."  So we may become children  by adoption, through faith.  Jesus' life, teaching, Passion, death and Resurrection are for this:  that those who would be gathered under His wings may come from everywhere, simply by faith.  Let us remember His great grace, this gift that reaches to all of us.  Are we willing?

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?" 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 recent readings, Jesus is at the temple in Jerusalem, for the Feast of Tabernacles. The readings began essentially at the time He was taunted by His relatives who did not believe, saying that He should show Himself openly. He told them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready." Jesus went to the festival in secret, and about the middle of this eight day feast He began to preach, speaking of His relationship with the Father: "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me." At this time the leadership sent officers to arrest Him. He told them, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." On the last day of the feast, when libations are poured to commemorate the water from the rock that came when Moses struck it, He taught, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." The officers came back to the chief priests and Pharisees, unable to arrest Jesus. They said, "No Man ever spoke like this!" Jesus continued to teach in the temple, as the festival nights are lit with torches and filled with dancing and singing in the temple court: "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." Again He continued to teach of His relationship to the Father who sent Him. He taught that He would be going away, and they would seek but not find Him. He taught, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Finally, in yesterday's reading, the leadership replied to Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus told them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin." He taught, "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." He said if they were truly children of Abraham, they would do as Abraham did. They said they were born of God. Jesus told 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. . . . 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." Our readings give us this statement twice, so important is it. It tells of our own connection with God, but more specifically we must remember that Jesus is speaking to the leadership in the temple of His time, the ones who seek to have Him killed. We know that He also had followers among the leadership, believers, and some (especially Nicodemus) already play a role in John's Gospel. But He speaks to us of the love of God in our hearts, and these most learned men, experts in Scripture and the law, those with the authority to teach, lack that love in that depth of the heart. My study bible says, "Spiritual truth can be genuinely heard only if there is willingness to know God and to do His will."

Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" My study bible explains that "Samaritans were viewed as demon-possessed heretics." But the criticism of Christ has moved now from scathing remarks about His Galilean background into accusations of demonic activity. We must remember that here the term "the Jews" is used to apply to the party of the leadership and those driving its decisions, not to the Jewish people and not Jewish spiritual heritage. All the people involved here including Jesus Himself, His apostles and His supporters and believers (even the author of the Gospel) are Jews. By the time this was written, persecutions and other historical events shaping the Church have resulted in the first naming of Christ's followers as "Christians."

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." Again Jesus repeats what He's been telling them, especially emphasizing the relationship with the Father, and with those who will be His followers.

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." There has been much debating and discussion about Abraham, the ancestor of the people of God, of Israel, the one who followed what he was taught in faith. Christ emphasizes again the relationship to God the Father, and through this relationship of faith to Abraham as well. He emphasizes that they are nothing like Abraham, "who 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." My study bible notes for us: "I AM (Gr. ego eimi) is a name of God in the Old Testament, first revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:13-15; Is. 43:10). To the Jews this pronouncement was a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God. John places special emphasis on the use of the expression for the purpose of revealing Christ as God. In context, this statement illuminates what He began saying earlier, that those who keep His word will neither see nor taste death. Only God has power over death, and Jesus is claiming such power." It's important also that we infer the relationship between Jesus' timeless I AM and Abraham who lived in ancient times, ancestor of the Jewish people, of Israel, the people of God.

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. My study bible tells us that "they regard Jesus' claim to be one with God as the most abominable form of blasphemy. They took up stones because death by stoning was the penalty for blasphemy required by the Mosaic Law." Even though they seek to kill Him, it's not His time, His hour -- He passes by unharmed.

Jesus is on a mission for the One by whom He's been sent, the One who is His Father. And He has outraged the authorities in the temple. Everything they think, what they believe, is under assault here. How can this man, from Galilee, not even a rabbi or learned in a school of a rabbi, be the One He claims to be? There are all kinds of reasons not to believe. And there are all kinds of reasons to be outraged. But Jesus continually emphasizes one reason alone: He says that if they had truly known His Father, then they would know Him. He emphasizes His relationship with the Father, that all things, all judgments, and all teachings, whatever He says, is given to Him by the Father. He seeks not His own glory, but only that of the Father, and He is true to His mission. So this story, the things Jesus teaches us about Himself, is still and yet remains all about relationship. It is about what we love in our hearts and how that relates us to others, to the things we teach and learn, to the things we honor, and how we judge. He has told the leadership, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with righteous judgment." Over and over again, He encourages the leadership and all others who hear Him to place first the love of God in their hearts and then to see and hear Him with that love. So love starts everything, and it is the basis of our understanding. It is John the Evangelist who will also write in an Epistle that God is love. So where do we begin here? How do we know truth? When we find something outrageous, we must hold on to that love. We remember the love of God to stabilize us, to take us to a place where judgment can at least have a chance of being righteous. This is the place of real forgiveness -- not that everything we encounter is "okay" but rather that we give judgment up to God, that we remember God's love for us, and that we honor that love by seeking God's will and God's love in our own perspective. Where does that begin in you? How does it help you to hear and to see?