The Gospel for Wednesday, February 11, 2004
John 8:12-20
When Jesus spoke to the people again, he said: I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life. At this the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not true.’ Jesus replied: Even though I am testifying on my own behalf, my testimony is still true, because I know where I have come from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one, but if I judge, my judgement will be true, because I am not alone: the one who sent me is with me; and in your Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I testify on my own behalf, but the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf, too. They asked him, ‘Where is your Father then?’ Jesus answered: You do not know me, nor do you know my Father; if you did know me, you would know my Father as well. He spoke these words in the Treasury, while teaching in the Temple. No one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study
The arguments advanced by Jesus to illuminate these members of the temple elite and the Pharisaic sect -- not to defend himself, for he needed no defense -- are the words of God Himself, speaking to them. But those who were intended to hear could not fathom the words. They were deafened by their own created, Law-centered belief system. This Jesus who confounded them with his wisdom, whose gentle and compelling speech both attracted and convinced the crowds: if there were such a thing as a sorcerer, he surely must be one!
And "light" had special meaning for first century Israel. It was synonomous with God, whenever the prophets foretold him: "a light unto the nations," "but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory;" "He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him" and so on. This fellow Jesus is putting himself up as YHWH, and if not as YHWH, then at least as the Messiah.
"You judge by human standards...." And the implication is that Jesus judges by another standard, which he quickly confirms with "the Father who sent me." This is not "Dad," or "my father Joseph," but "the Father."
Then Jesus tweaks them with "... and in your Law, it is written ..." Not the Law, not our Law, but your Law. He might as well come out and accuse them of corrupting the Law.
His closing words to them must have submerged them in a veritable cloud of confusion. Here is Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee, son of the carpenter Joseph. And he is saying that we the temple elite don't know him, but that if we did, we'd know his father. They could not get their minds around what he said.
A Reflection
John's insistent drumbeat continues. He presses his point home, once again. A righteous man, a man that no one has ever seen sin, who heals the lame, who drives out demons, who removes fevers -- what are these temple elite trying to do?
Surely they were being political, more than religious. They did not want the Romans, who were already running too much of Jerusalem, to step in and "solve" the uprising that this fellow Jesus looked sure to start.
More political than religious: does that sound right for those times? I think so. How about these times? When you hold "religious" people in the scales of the politics-vs-religion balance, on which side are they heaviest? Do the modern religious elite really know the difference between discerning something and damning it? Sometimes I wonder.
Jesus made a substantial point about not judging. John's (perhaps apocryphal) story about the adultress underscores this, but Jesus reinforces it in this passage with "if I did judge...." Jesus kept his emotions in check, usually. He dealt in a clear, cool logic (at least that we can now see is logical) that not only showed his wisdom but also gently shut down his opponents. The implication was, "Don't judge. I don't."
When the Philistines finally made the connection between the Ark of the Covenant, that they had stolen, and the misfortunes that afflicted them, they placed the Ark and some golden gifts into a cart pulled by milk-cows (who would never have pulled a cart, and have no pre-determined ideas about the "right way" to go). And the cows headed straight back to Israel, where the Ark belonged.
Every time that the philistines of Jerusalem failed in testing Jesus, they let him go again.
And he headed straight for Golgotha.
5:43:23 AM 
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