Witnesses to Jesus

Today's Reflections

Witnesses to Jesus 

 

Jn 5:31-47

[Jesus said to the Jews,] ³¹“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified. ³²But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. ³³You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. ³⁴I do not accept testimony from a human being, but I say this so that you may be saved. ³⁵He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. ³⁶But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. ³⁷Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, ³⁸and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. ³⁹You search the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. ⁴⁰But you do not want to come to me to have life.

⁴¹“I do not accept human praise; ⁴²moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. ⁴³I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. ⁴⁶For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. ⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Reflection:

You do not want to come to me. Jesus is confronted with the unbelief of the Jews despite a threefold witness to him: the witness of John, the witness of Jesus’ own works, and the testimony of the Father on his behalf. What prevents the hearers of Jesus from believing? Jesus gives the answer: “How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?”

If we want to believe in Jesus and come to him to have life, we must seek the praise of God, i.e., God’s approval. And we will get God’s approval only if we seek to do God’s will in love. We will receive the grace to recognize Jesus for who and what he is—the Son of God and true God—when we obey the Father in love.

Obey the Father in love and be in the light.