John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true

 

 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  

Jesus answered them, "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'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

 

- John 10:31–42 

 

Yesterday we read there was a division again among the religious leaders because of Jesus' word to them while they interrogated Him during the Feast of Tabernacles, during which He had healed a man born blind.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

 

  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."   The religious leaders clearly perceive the meaning of Jesus' final statement in yesterday's reading (above), "I and My Father are one."   This is a revelation that Jesus is fully God.  My study bible explains that one means one in nature of essence; He is God before all ages, and remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  The plural "are" indicates two distinct Persons, but confirms a continuous unity as well.  The religious leaders (for this is what is indicated by the term the Jews) clearly recognize Christ's claim of divinity in the statement, and therefore are accusing Him of blasphemy.  

Jesus answered them, "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'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."   My study bible comments on Jesus' quotation from Psalm 82:6, which reads, "I said, 'You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High'."  It says that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and can then rightly be called gods.  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who writes that Christ is effectively saying, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"  Once again, Jesus turns to the works He's done as witnesses to His claim of unity with the Father.  

 

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  My study bible comments that because Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will (see verses 17-18), His accusers cannot arrest Him until He is ready (7:30; 8:20; see Luke 4:28-30).

And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.   Once again Jesus is linked to John the Baptist and his role as forerunner to Christ.  John's word about Jesus is confirmed in what people witness about Jesus.  St. John Chrysostom comments, "Christ is no longer proven to be trustworthy by means of John. Instead, John is shown to be trustworthy by what Christ had done."

How do we know what is true?  And how do we measure truth in the different things we might read or hear?  One thing we can say about Scripture is its consistency; that is, its affirming nature in the truths that are told.  Even when they may seem to indicate different things when taken separately, truths which appear in God's word or work tend to affirm and reinforce one another.  They work in a type of synergy which does not simply affirm, but when taken together enhance one another, and make a greater whole than the sum of the parts.  For example, Christ quotes from Psalm 82:6 in today's reading.  While the understanding of the psalm and its word as Holy Scripture has always been accepted, Christ's use of it here enhances both our understanding of the Psalm and also our understanding of Christ and His divine nature, which can be shared with us through grace.  In commentary on the same passage, my study bible also cites a passage in an Epistle of St. Peter (2 Peter 1:4), which affirms that through Christ's work, power, gifts, and promises to us, we "may be partakers of divine nature."  Each of these passages from Scripture, taken together, reinforce and illumine one another.  The writing of the Psalm, the citing of it by Jesus, and the experience of St. Peter given to us in his letter, all combine to highlight facets of our faith for us, aspects of the grace of God at work for us and with us.   In the same sense, Jesus' retreat to the place where John the Baptist had spent time during his own ministry serves to reinforce both the holiness of John and affirm the holiness of Christ in the people who are witness to both.  This is the way we need to observe Scripture and how it works, and even what contributes to our understanding of why it is considered to be inspired.  Ultimately, the source of what we know is the Word of God.  Old Testament or New Testament, each affirms the other in proper understanding, and contributes to our understanding of God and God's work in us and in our world.  Each is a facet of revelation, taken together.  Generally speaking, as Christians, and from the earliest period of the Church, we understand the Old Testament Scriptures to point to the New;  that is, to Christ as manifestation of what was prophesied.  But every time we study Scripture, or we study the life of a saint, or we participate in a liturgical service, or in the privacy of our own prayers, or any other type of holy devotion or participation in our faith, all of these things taken together form and shape us and our understanding, because they all draw upon and reflect the same source.  They are all meant to reveal Christ, and to draw us into participation in the life of Christ.  This is why all aspects of faith are important, why the Christian church has always used the Psalms for worship, why our Scriptures include both Old and New Testament.  In fact, for the early Church, and up through at least the 5th century, for most Christians, the Old Testament Scriptures were the only Scriptures available.  The Bible is indeed the "Book of the Church" and among all the various apocryphal and other texts which are known, it was the Church that compiled and evaluated the texts which are included.  Let us consider how each facet of faith or testimony contributes to the whole, and taken together illuminate all the rest.  Moreover, in our theology, we understand the world -- the created cosmos -- to be an icon of Christ.  The beauty of the world reflects the beauty of Creator.  We are meant to continue to learn and draw upon all that is available to us to hear and to answer God's call, and to come to know Christ.  There is nothing left out, and more is added all the time in the form of new witness to our faith and God's self-revelation to us.

 

 

 

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me

 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

 

- John 10:19–30 

In recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles, which is coming to a conclusion.  He has been debating the religious leaders.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus said to them,  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.  Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father." 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"   My study bible comments here that those who respond in faith are not merely impressed by the signs, but perceive the holiness of Christ's words.

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  The Feast of Dedication took place approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles.  We have just finished reading through a large section of John's Gospel which took place at the Feast of Tabernacles (7:1-10:21).  The Feast of Dedication was known as the "Festival of Lights" and is also called Hanukkah.  This feast commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem, which took place after the Seleucid King Epiphanes had desecrated it in 167 BC (see 1 Maccabees 1-4).  At this festival, my study bible notes, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated, many of whom were themselves shepherds.

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me."  My study bible indicates that both what Christ told them and also the works He had done have already answered their question.  Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind, or perform the miracles that already bear witness to Christ.  Additionally, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as Christ has (7:46; 9:21).  

"But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."   As I said to you is yet another indication that these are the same Pharisees whom Christ was addressing three months earlier (10:1-5).   And once again Christ returns to His repeated them of total dependence upon and union with the Father.  My study bible comments that in this final statement (and He will continue in tomorrow's reading), Jesus reveals Himself to be fully God:  One means one in nature or essence.  He is God before all ages, and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  The plural verb are (in "I and My Father are one") indicates two distinct Persons, and at the same time confirming a continuous unity.  

 

My study bible comments on this powerful statement:  "I and My Father are one."  And in tomorrow's reading, we will see the response of the religious leaders, who obviously understand Christ's meaning when He says that He and the Father are one.  But let us also look at something important about Christ's statement of unity with the Father.  It is not simply a declaration about Himself and about His identity, in response to the question of the Pharisees (referred to in the text as the Jews, meaning the religious leaders, not the Jewish people).   One highly powerful significance of Christ's unity with the Father is precisely in His relationship to the sheep, of which Jesus speaks.   In fact, it is significant in terms of why exactly the Pharisees cannot "hear" Him, cannot accept or understand His answers to them.  They are not of His sheep.  But this, too, ties back to the Father and Christ unity with the Father.  Jesus says of His own direct relationship with the sheep:  "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."   He is continuing a major theme of His discourse from the Feast of Tabernacles, that He is the good shepherd (see Saturday's reading, above).   What are the characteristics of His sheep?  For one thing, they are the ones who hear His voice.  He knows them, and they follow Him.  He will also keep them as His own forever, and no one will steal them away.  And here is the tie with His father, and through the sheep, those who love Christ as their Good Shepherd, "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."  It is the Father who has both given the sheep to Christ, and who will keep them safe with Christ, where others cannot snatch them away.  We turn here to themes that tie in with Christ's remark to Peter, after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ:  "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven" (see Matthew 16:15-19).  That the sheep are Christ's to begin with is primordially given by the Father, just as Jesus proclaims that it is the Father has revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ.  Let us make particular note that Peter likely has no idea how he came to this realization.   As far as we know, the Gospels do not tell us that Peter had a profound conscious vision or revelation to come to this understanding.  Instead, this faith and understanding has come from somewhere deep within himself, and it is Christ who reveals its true origin.  What this means is something that will be repeated by Jesus in John's Gospel, and especially at the Last Supper.  It means that God the Father is so deeply intertwined in us that where Christ relationship with the Father is and where our relationship with the Father and Christ is cannot be separated into separate threads or meanings or experiences.  It means that we are all in all, so to speak, and that this communion runs so deeply within us that we experience it as one.  For human beings to be "taught by God" (6:45, citing Isaiah 54:13). implies a stupendously powerful message about how honored and beloved we are by God, for it is the Father who delivers and gives the sheep to Christ.  At the Last Supper, Jesus prays for all of His sheep, those whom He knows and those who are to come, saying, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  that they all may 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" (17:20-21).  It is an affirmation of what we read here, and tying all these threads together.  In short the unity of Father and Son is extended through the sheep, those who know Christ's voice.  If you know His voice, if you desire to follow, consider what great things are truly at work to make that possible for us.  Consider the great honor we're given by the Father of all things.  Tying in with the themes of the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), let us dwell on the words of St. James, also found in the Dismissal Prayer of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17).  Whatever else has happened or will happen in our lives, whatever sad or hard instance of this world interferes with our joy or contentment, consider this greatest gift of all, and that it is the Father working in us -- in you -- who gives it.  Nothing can take away from such a great and profound honor for human beings, and our Lord affirms it so for us.  Let us remain loyal to our Good Shepherd, and understand the deep love that binds us together with Christ and the Father.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep

 

 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

"I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."

 

- John 10:1–18 

 

Yesterday we read that the religious leaders the did not believe concerning the healed man who was born blind, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."  Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  

 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."   As we begin chapter 10, Jesus is continuing His conversation with the Pharisees.  This is taking place at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles.  My study bible comments that Jesus -- in the entirety of today's reading -- contrasts their leadership with His own.  They have failed as pastors of God's people ("pastor" comes from the Latin word for "shepherd").  It says their leadership has been marked by deceit and pride and has lacked compassion.  Christ, on the other hand, fulfills all virtue.  According to St. John Chrysostom, the door is God's Word,  meaning both the Scriptures and our Lord Himself, since the Scriptures reveal God the Word.  The one who tries to lead in a way that is neither in Christ nor according to the teaching of the Scriptures is a thief and a robber.  Rather than using this door so all can see Christ's works openly, these false shepherds use underhanded means to control, steal, and manipulate people, which ultimately destroys their souls.  By contrast, my study bible says, those pastors who lead according to Christ will find eternal life (see verses 9-10).  

"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."  Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.  My study bible comments here that as Christ has intimate knowledge of every person, so also true pastors in the Church strive to know their people by name, that is, personally.  These pastors endeavor to understand each person's situation and needs, from the greatest to the least, possessing Christ-like compassion for each one (Hebrews 4:15).  In return, the people will respond to a true leader, it says, trusting he is a follower of Christ.  St. Ignatius of Antioch is quoted as saying, "Where the bishop is present, there the people shall gather."  The response of the faithful can be a better indicator of who is a true shepherd than the claims of leaders (7:47-49).  

Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  My study bible says that the phrase all who ever came before Me does not refer to Moses or to genuine prophets.  It refers, instead, to people claiming to be the Messiah both before and after Christ, such as Judas of Galilee and Theudas (Acts 5:36-37).   The ultimate thief is Satan, who spreads lies and heresies among the people of God, in order to lure away both leaders and people.  Life, my study bible explains, means living in God's grace here on earth, and more abundant life indicates the Kingdom to come.

"I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."   Here Jesus reveals Himself as the good shepherd."  My study bible comments that the good shepherd 1) enters by the door; in other words, He fulfills the Scriptures concerning Himself; 2) He knows and is known by the Father; 3) He knows His people personally, and therefore is known by them; and 4) He gives His life for the sake of His people, a direct prophecy of His coming Passion. 

"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."  Other sheep are the Gentiles, who will be brought into the one flock with the Jews under the one shepherd.   Therefore, for example, the Church from its earliest beginning has transcended ethnic and racial lines.  From the beginning, it was the teaching that there is one bishop serving a city (I Nicea; see Canon 8), a principle affirmed in each generation.  In the early second century, St. Ignatius wrote to a Church which held separate liturgies for Jewish and Gentile Christians, "Be careful to observe a single Eucharist, for there is one Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup of His Blood that makes us one, and one altar, just as there is one bishop. . . . This is in line with God's will."

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."   My study bible comments on Christ assertion I lay down My life:  Christ is clear that His life-giving death is going to be voluntary.  He doesn't do anything apart from the will of the Father.  As Christ laid down His life for us, so we also lay down our lives for Him and for the sake of others.

There is quite a bit to unpack and think about in today's reading.  Jesus brings in all kinds of concepts that haven't been put together before.  Not only has He just mentioned that His mission into this world is concerned with judgment (see the final verses in yesterday's reading, above), but here in today's reading He reveals Himself as the good shepherd, the One who will be the shepherd for all.  What characterizes this shepherd, and how do we know Him?  First of all, He is the door.  He's the way for the sheep.  And the sheep know His voice, just as Christ knows the Father.  There is a relationship of love and of care.  He gives the sheep what they need, for them there is the word that leads to eternal life and to abundant life -- not simply in an afterlife, but here in this world, to find that grace which He can give to our lives.  It is in Him that we know and are known.  There is a union of love that characterizes our relationship to the true good shepherd, who is here for all people, Jew and Gentile, so that we are one flock.  He contrasts the good shepherd with the robbers, the thieves, the ones who lie and don't care about truth, who don't know His Father.  This is the choice we're given.  As followers of Jesus, we are asked to keep our eyes open -- even as the blind man has been healed -- to know our Good Shepherd and to truly know our leaders, so that we also identify the false ones, in whatever guise they come (Matthew 7:15).  Finally, the good shepherd is the One who will give His life for His sheep.  He has come into the world in order to so deeply identify with us that He will take on all the responsibility for the sheep, and do whatever it takes to protect them, so they may have this abundant life.  It is His enemies who will simply destroy without a thought.  And in this is cemented in the love between the Father, the Son, and the flock.  Each is inseparable in that love, for the command comes from the Father, and the Son volunteers to follow.  It's a lot to consider, but let us contrast the Good Shepherd with the thieves who don't care about the flock, for that remains pertinent with us to this day, no matter what the setting, nominal group, or nature of relationship we're talking about.  The judgment is here, hidden in these spiritual things that need a spiritual perception on our part to understand.  It needs discernment, to which He very clearly calls all of us in our capacity as rational sheep.  His flock are all those who know His voice.

For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind

 

 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."  Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."

- John 9:18–41 

 

In our current readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  Yesterday we read that as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, "Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."  They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet." 

 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."   We notice in these verses the place of the formerly blind man.  His own parents fear the leadership and being ostracized from community by being put out of the synagogue.   They insist that he will speak for himself.   As witness, the healed man will have to testify alone and of himself.

So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  My study bible points out that with Jesus not present, the Pharisees call Him a sinner, but earlier when He asked them face-to-face, "Which if you convicts Me of sin" (8:46), they evaded the question.  Give God the glory! was an oath formula that was used before a person would give testimony.  Nonetheless, this healed man will indeed give God glory, as we'll read further down.  The more he is pressed, the more strongly he expresses his faith, while the Pharisees lapse into greater darkness.

He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."   Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."   My study bible tells us that this healed man has now become a model of Christian witness.  It says that many people do not bear witness to Christ because they fear they will be asked questions they cannot answer.  But this man's answer to people far more well-educated than he is provides the correct solution.  He admits what he does not know, and follows up with what he does know.  My study bible says that the formula, "That I don't know, but what I do know is this," is foundational to witnessing one's faith to others. 

 

The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  My study bible comments that  the unprecedented nature of opening the eyes of one who was born blind is a confirmation of Christ's divinity.  This was one of the signs of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 35:5; 42:7) and a prerogative which belongs solely to God (Psalm 146:8).  Let us note that successful witnessing does not mean necessarily converting others to one's way of thinking or winning them over somehow.  The more this man tells the truth, the more infuriated the leaders become.  They cannot refute his logic or the truth of what he reveals.  Therefore they resort to insult and they cast him out.   What is clear is their injustice and unrighteous behavior.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.   My study bible makes note of the gradual spiritual illumination of the blind man which follows the physical opening of his sight.  It reminds us that he moves from knowing almost nothing about Christ, through the conclusion that Jesus could not possibly be a sinner, through confessing that Jesus must be from God, and to finally seeing Christ as the divine Son of God and worshiping Him. 

And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  My study bible says that our Lord's coming brought judgment to the world, not because He came to judge (12:47-48), but rather because of humankind's accountability to Him.   It says that those who see and hear Him but do not believe are judged by their own faithlessness.

The references to light in the recent passages, especially regarding the healing of this man blind from birth, are very important.  Historically, it is said that blindness is akin to darkness in physical and spiritual terms, and that the healing of a blind eye "lets the light in."  Illumination is an important concept that relates both to the physical healing of this man by Jesus -- think of it, who has never seen light in full -- and to the spiritual enlightenment of the man that follows.  By contrast, the religious leaders become increasingly stubborn in their blindness, clinging to their darkness, not wanting to know, embroiling themselves finally in insult and imposing hardship on the healed man by casting him from the community -- a kind of death.   In the end, Jesus says, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."   Once again Jesus extends the metaphor of light and blindness, but this time there is a different tenor to the message, an even more sobering one.  At this time, and in light of the behavior of the religious leaders, Jesus not only speaks of judgment, but indicates that judgment is His purpose in coming into the world.  This mysterious statement is an indication that those who seem to dwell in spiritual darkness may be enlightened through His work and mission, and those who are supposed to be illumined and knowledgeable are rendered blind.  This is precisely what has happened in this story in the examples of the man who was blind and now sees, and in the leaders who increasingly retreat into the darkness of ignorance of Christ and His works -- even the stupendous and beneficial miracle of healing right before them.  They hear Christ's words and ask, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus makes an even deeper affirmation of judgment by saying, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."   In other words, their insistence that they know better only renders them more culpable.  They have simply added to the cost of their denial of what is before them.  How often we may pause to ask ourselves what it means to be responsible for something we know or claim to know, something we have been told or witnessed and yet refuse to honor or take in.  There is a kind of deliberate ignorance which we can observe in the world, that has to do with a refusal to acknowledge something that is true.  Jesus contrasts this with people who don't know better, who haven't had an advantage of being taught something.  A deliberate ignorance, a shutting out of the light and of the truth is something altogether different from simple unawareness.  This has to do with a preference for darkness; and in the case of Christ's works and words, a preference for spiritual darkness, for the work and influence of one whom Jesus has recently called the father of these men.  In 8:44 Jesus said, "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."  The entirety of John's Gospel is concerned with judgment; it is concerned with truth and light, and the darkness that opposes them.  This is the darkness that prefers ignorance and lies, half-truths and deception, and Jesus rightly calls the effects and aim of such to be murder.  To deny truth is to murder:  it is to seek to destroy reality, the truth, the things necessary for real life, the energy and abundance of love, the things that nurture human life and the life of the world.  In this strategy of denial that is born out of selfishness to hang onto position and place, we find an investment in anything that hangs on to the status quo and prevents change borne of the light, and a refusal to heed God's word for fear of where it might lead.   It is this refusal of the light that will lead to the Cross, in a desire to shut it out for good.  In our personal lives, we may be faced with many crises, and it is easy for us to sink into deep denial of something we need to face.  This is a human response to change.  But God calls us forward, and we need to accept that this, also, is the place of the Cross, and the crosses we might bear in life.  We allow our Father and our Lord to take us forward; and the work of the Holy Spirit to work in us change at levels deeper than we know.  To refuse the gift of light is to refuse God's work, to hide what needs to be healed.  It means we reject His life.  These are themes that run straight from the beginning of John's Gospel, and will continue.  But Jesus is the One who always faces the real struggles of the world, for He knows also the beauty and truth of God toward which He seeks to lead us.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world

 

 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, "Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet." 

 

- John 9:1–17 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus said:  "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.

 

  Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."  Christ rejects the assumption, which was common in the ancient world, that all troubles and maladies are the consequence of personal sin, or even the sin of parents (see Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9; contrast Ezekiel 18:19-21).  My study bible comments that although suffering could be the direct result of personal sin, it is by no means always the case.  At this time, Jesus makes it clear that the man's blindness is providing an opportunity for the works of God to be revealed.  It is not related directed by the man's personal sins.

"I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work."  The work that people do, my study bible tells us, consists of faith (6:29), good deeds (5:29), and repentance (12:40).  The night that comes, it says, refers both to the time after a person dies and also to the age to come, when there is no longer an opportunity for the expression of faith.  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who comments that on that day there won't be faith, but all will submit, willingly or unwillingly. 

"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  In this section, we will read the sixth of seven signs in John's Gospel, the healing of this man blind from birth.  This unprecedented healing is a confirmation of Jesus' claim that He is the light of the world (8:12).  

When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  My study bible cites St. Irenaeus, who sees in this mixture of clay and saliva a type of the creation of humanity from the earth (Genesis 2:7).   Christ's divinity is revealed by restoring part of creation using the same material with which humanity was created in the beginning.

And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  The pool of Siloam was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and a considerable distance from the temple.  From this pool water was taken for the rites connected with the Feast of Tabernacles, which is the setting for our recent readings.  My study bible says that Siloam, which is translated, Sent, is a symbol of Christ, the One who is sent by the Father (5:36; 20:21).  It says that just as the healing of the blind man confirmed Christ's claim to be the light of the world (8:12), so also, Christ's making use of the pool of Siloam confirms that He is the true purification of the temple and all those who worship in it.

So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, "Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."    This particular healing is the sixth of seven signs in John's Gospel.  Out of all the miracle stories that are in the Bible, only this one involves a person who was blind from birth (verse 32).  The blind man is symbolic of all humanity:  everyone needs illumination by Christ, who is the Light of the world.  My study bible says that this sign is also an illustration of baptism, which is also called "holy illumination."  Easter (or Pascha) is the traditional day to receive catechumens into the Church.  The lessons which follow reflect a baptismal theology.

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."   My study bible comments that just as the Pharisees had ignored the healing of the paralytic and focused only on the perceived violation of the Sabbath (5:10-16), here many of them cannot see the glory of God through their own prejudices.  

In tomorrow's reading, this story will continue.  But starting here, we should keep a close eye on the conduct of this healed blind man, and the testimony he gives.  It will be pertinent to our own way of witnessing, teaching us something about how we conduct ourselves.  He is not afraid to answer that he doesn't know, but he is also not afraid to say what he does know.   While we must understand the stupendous nature of the healing of  man who was blind from birth in terms of tradition in the Scripture (and Jewish spiritual history), and also in the context of Christ as the Light of the world, there is something that is couched in this story -- and as it will continue in tomorrow's reading -- that is very important and is not to be missed.  It is a thread that runs throughout John's Gospel.  What we find "hidden in plain sight" in today's reading are notions of justice and witnessing.  How do we judge?  How do we know what is what?  What evidence do we take to mean something?  How are we fair?  The religious leadership is already understood to have it in for Jesus, so to speak.  They want to get rid of Him.  They have called Him a blasphemer.  They have tried and failed to have Him arrested.  They have already accused Him in the past of violation of the Sabbath by healing on the Sabbath.  We begin with what is already "not fair."  This man has been blind since birth.  It is no one's "fault."  Jesus says it is not because his parents had sinned, but rather it is an occasion for the glory of God, "that the works of God should be revealed in him."  This is a reversal of what is unjust; it is also a kind of prefiguring of the Cross, where the occasion of the greatest injustice is turned into liberation for all of humankind.  The rest of the text also delves into justice in the questioning of the healed blind man:  how we decide, how we condemn or exonerate.  The division among the Pharisees in debating whether Jesus is simply violating the Law or if He is good because He does good things makes us think about how we see things, and how we judge a person.  Caught in the middle, as it seems we so often are in John's Gospel, is the witness, the blind man himself.  He can simply answer honestly to some questions, "I don't know."  And on the other hand, he can simply say what he knows.  This will continue in tomorrow's reading.  As we read through John, the notions of judgment and judging will continually be raised.  "Witnessing" and "testimony" are significant in this orientation toward language of the courtroom, just as accusations are.  John's Gospel places us in the context of an unjust world, in which Jesus is the One sent to heal and to liberate, and to bring the Father to the world for our communion with God.  Judgment becomes a deeply profound piece of this story when we understand that for true judgment, there is only one place we can go, and that we must look beyond ourselves and our world for the truth that will take us to that place.  Let us keep all of this in mind as we look toward tomorrow's reading, and think about how we witness in life, what we know and don't know, what our experience can reveal, and how we seek a path to righteousness.  In this context Jesus tells us that He is the light of the world.

If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your 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 yesterday's reading, the religious leaders who are questioning Jesus 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 if 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?"  My study bible comments that since these religious leaders are unable to defeat Christ through logic or truth, as His enemies they resort to personal insult (see also 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."   Christ's words here are similar to His words about witnessing.  Everything comes back to the witness of the Father, just as Christ's own honor is constituted through the honor of the Father.  He bears witness of the Father in the world, teaching the Father's word which He keeps, and telling the truth that He knows the Father.  And again, Jesus cites the example of Abraham, whom these men consider to be their "father," but to whose own behavior they bear no resemblance.

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.  I AM (in Greek, ego eimi/εγω ειμι) is the divine Name of God in the Old Testament, my study bible explains.  It was first revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15).  For the Jews, this is a direct, explicit, and unmistakable claim to perfect equality with God, my study bible says, as we can see from the reaction of these men who then attempt to stone Christ (see also Mark 14:62-64).   It adds that John places special emphasis on the use of this Name in order to clearly reveal Christ as God.  This divine claim illuminates Christ's authority even over death (verse 52), which is a power that belongs only to God the Father. 

Jesus continues to emphasize His identification with the Father.  Everything He is given comes from the Father:  His word and teachings, His truth, His identity as Son, His honor.  In this final declaration, "Before Abraham was, I AM," Jesus confirms that He is the "Lord" of the Old Testament.  When David writes in Psalm 110:  "The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool'," we as Christians understand this to mean that God the Father was speaking to Christ as Lord.  David refers to the Messiah as "my Lord," and in this way we understand the Messiah to be the divine Son.   In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus "stumps" His questioners by quoting this passage from the Psalm, as they question His identity (see, for example, Matthew 22:41-46).  Christ is David's son in His humanity, by lineage, but God's Son in His divinity.  But in John's Gospel we are repeatedly assured that when we see Christ, so we see the Father.  The way He is speaking in today's reading. we know that what He is, and who He is, it all comes from His union with the Father, and that this is what He is sent into the world to express.  He does nothing of Himself alone.  So the real question becomes, for us, how we see Christ.  For it is the way that we respond to Christ that also expresses how we respond to God the Father.  In chapter 14, Jesus will tell the disciples, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (14:9).   But Jesus was not sent to speak of Himself, except that He might show us the way to the Father as well.  If Christ's honor, word, truth, judgment and so many things come from the Father, then the real consideration implied here is to ask where our own honor word, truth, judgment, etc. come from.  Where is our truth, and what is the truth of each of us?  As Jesus finds all substance in the Father, so we should consider how our faith and our willingness to live it brings us honor, and truth.  We should consider how it helps us to "judge with righteous judgment" rather than by appearance (7:24).  In following Christ's example for us, in searching this very reason why He was sent -- to give us, essentially God the Father in so many ways -- then we have to start to think of all the things brought to us through our faith.  Moreover, where Father and Son are, so is the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit are myriad to us.  But everything depends on our faith, and we start there.  Jesus speaks of life in abundance and life everlasting, but that very life He gives is not about some separate time or place from the here and now.  Our faith is essential to the quality of life we have, the very texture and substance of who we are and who we become.  When we stop to pray in the middle of a day, or of any circumstance in which we find ourselves confused or at a loss, we should remember that.  We ground ourselves in the world of God, we seek our communion in prayer.  Christ becomes the anchor for everything else, and this is where we find help for strength, to see past the falsehoods that present themselves in life, to cope with our own imperfect sight, our mistakes.  There is the road of love, and that is what Christ brings to us in teaching so much about His life and communion with the Father, and how much it means to persist in God's word. 

Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word

 

 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 if 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."

 

- John 8:33–47 

 

In our current readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, where He has been preaching and contesting with the leadership.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  Then Jesus said to them, "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, but 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."

 

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."  Jesus continues the conversation from what we read in yesterday's reading, above, when He told them, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."   The leaders are confused as to what He is referring when He tells them they will be made free.  Jesus further elaborates that He is speaking of sin, and our relationship to sin.  We need someone to help us to be free, and it is the Son who is able to do that.  

"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."  My study bible says that to be a child of Abraham, it is not enough to be simply related by blood.  Instead, Abraham's true children share Abraham's faith and virtue (Luke 3:8).  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ wanted to detach these men from racial pride, and to teach them that their hope of salvation is not by being descendants of Abraham by nature, but rather to come to faith by their own free will.  My study bible elaborates that their idea that being a descendant of Abraham was enough for salvation was the very thing which prevented them from coming to Christ. 

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."  Proceeded, according to my study bible, refers not to the Son coming eternally from the Father, but rather to Christ being sent from the Father to His Incarnation on earth.   

 

 "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 if 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."  My study bible tells us that just as being a child of Abraham is based on sharing his attributes, in the same sense, those who reject Christ share the same attributes as the devil -- in particular, a hatred for truth.  This deliberate rejection, especially on the part of these men learned in Scripture and their faith, results in Christ's words that they are the devil's children.

So what is it to be a child of the devil?  While we don't judge people on the basis of what we know only (for only Christ can judge the heart), we can come to recognize significant truths in what Jesus is saying to these men.  He asks them, "Which of you convicts Me of sin?"  The answer, of course, is that none of them can.  He asks, "And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?"  Jesus' explanation is simple:  if they truly loved God, they would hear the words that God gives Him.  They would hear that truth.  Moreover, their rejection of Christ is deliberate, mean-spirited, vicious, and selfish.  It's not really based on a consideration either of their own legal procedures for convicting a person, nor is it well-reasoned and rational.  They aren't willing to hear Him out.  Theirs is quite a rejection of truth, indeed, for it is not based on sincere questioning, only upon a concern for who has authority and who has not -- and, in particular, a concern for their own places in their world.  Why do we reject truth?   There might be all kinds of reasons, but there is one thing that is important to understand, and that is the connection of this truth with love, and with the reality of that love in the Person of God the Father, and shared through Christ and the Holy Spirit.   There may be times when we cannot understand why something might be good for us, but if we know the giver of that word or teaching to be one who loves us, it makes all the difference in our acceptance.  Obedience, and the ability to hear and listen to this truth, comes not out of penalizing obligation, but out of the assurance of of love.  It comes out of trust.  And trust is both the substance of faith and the relative of truth.  In John's First Epistle, he writes, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8).  Jesus repeatedly emphasizes that He is sent from the Father, the Father who has given Him the words of truth to give to us.  So, if we read the Scriptures right, we need to understand that everything starts from love.  Our basic trust starts there.  But without a heart that is open to this love, how are we open to truth?  Conversely, if a heart is not open to truth, how do we come to experience God's love?  These things are part and parcel of the mystery of God, and the mystery of us.  For we, as human beings created by God for communion and for adoption, are made for this relationship in love and in truth.  Although we know that Jesus was fully aware of eventual betrayal and rejection from early on, we can still read into His words a plea for reasonableness, for the salvation of these men.  When we get right down to the rootedness in our hearts of a deep basic instinct toward Christ, we have to find love, and we have to find trust.  That is, a confidence that His words are, indeed, true.  We should let nothing interfere with that trust and our sense of His love, for whatever wishes to push us off that path is not doing us any favors but leading the way to our loss.  Let us consider His words carefully to these men, and take them very seriously.  There is a place where we are known and will come to know.  It is a trap to follow what leads us away from there.