December 17th, 2023
Scripture
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.
39 “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41 I do not accept glory from humans. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
--John 5:30-47
Reflection
If we go back a bit prior to where today’s passage starts, Jesus had just healed a man on *gasp* the sabbath. Told him to get up and walk and he did just that. What follows next could just as easily take place today as it did in 1st century Jerusalem. Instead of celebrating the profound and miraculous healing of this gentleman, everyone reaches for the nearest measuring stick and starts arguing about authority. Can you imagine the social media posts and subsequent comment sections?
Why are we so obsessed with authority then? My guess is it’s about power, whether we claim it for ourselves, or for our group, or just to keep it away from those we don’t like.
As we are now well into the season of Advent, I find myself turning to the one who, in this passage, receives a mere passing mention: John. Why? Because I think John understood authority. Namely, he knew that his ministry wasn’t his own, there was no question for him about where true authority resides. His whole ministry was built upon the profound act of deference, as all real prophets can attest. That humility and willingness to defer any earthly power and prestige makes him the perfect companion during this Advent season of waiting.
What would it look like if, like John, all our endeavors and efforts were driven by the desire not for our own authority, clout, prestige, influence, or power, but rather pointing out and celebrating the wondrous deeds done on our behalf, namely the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ? What if we only worried about His authority? How would this change your day-to-day life? Your relationships? Your work or vocation? The season of Advent is a strange time in which we inhabit the awkward space between a promise made and one not yet fulfilled. Because of this gray area, isn’t it easy to just yield to the holiday fervor and distraction? We begrudgingly (or not) defer to the crashing waves of sales, parties, plans, and everything else. Rather, let us be like John—that burning and shining lamp—and illumine the path and the work of Jesus, in Whom all authority on Earth and Heaven rests, who was, who is, and will come again.
Light the way friends, and tell His story.
Fr. Jeff Huston
Chaplain, St. Augustine Canterbury Association
Oklahoma State University