Sermons

Sunday 15th December 2013, Advent 3, evening

John 5:31-40

by Revd Chris Palmer

The Gospel reading is all about testimony to Jesus. In fact testimony is a big theme in St John’s Gospel all told. But we’ll largely look at the passage we’ve just heard. It talks about five types of testimony to Jesus, and we’ll think about each of them for a moment:

First there’s John the Baptist. ‘You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.’ [vv33-35]. John’s testimony is reliable. But notice, Jesus doesn’t need it. Why not? The whole metaphor of testimony implies a court, and that would mean Jesus’ is looking for vindication, for acquittal. But Jesus isn’t interested in any court of human approval. Gaining the admiration of his contemporaries isn’t what he’s about. John’s testimony is beneficial for others, to point them to the truth of Jesus for their sake – not for Jesus’s. Even though John’s testimony is true, human testimony generally is fickle and unpredictable; it tells you more about the person giving the testimony than it does about person being spoken of – something I remind myself of every time I read a reference for someone. Jesus’ own trial was entirely opaque to the truth about Jesus: the testimony merely pointed to the vitriol and dishonesty of his accusers.

Second there’s Jesus’ testimony to himself. In fact here he declines to testify to himself: ‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.’ [v31] He’s repeating the principle of the Jewish law, which rightly recognises that witnessing to one self is also problematic: most people will talk themselves up. But Jesus just keeps silent, here and at his own trial. Having said this, there is a non-identical twin of this passage in ch 8: ‘Then the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.’ Jesus answered, ‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going’ [8:13-14]. There is clearly an intended play between these passage. But it seems to me again that the question comes back to ‘for whose benefit is the testimony?’ Jesus testimony to himself is of benefit to his hearers: it is in their interest to recognise and embrace the truth, but on his own behalf, for his own sake, for his own reputation or safety Jesus does not testify.

Then third, the works Jesus does testify to him. ‘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.’ [v36]. Actions speak louder than words, because what you do is who you are. In a sense this is the whole basis of St John’s theme of enfleshment. The word of God is made flesh in Jesus. Jesus’ actions are what God is saying. The very fact that Jesus rejects self-seeking and seeks the healing, forgiveness, and reintegration of others is a witness to him – but also a window onto what God is doing in his world. Although the Christian church has – rightly – made Jesus an object of worship, Jesus did not seek any cult of himself during his life. With humility he points to the Father. Even his works are for the benefit of his hearers in pointing them to God. This is the basis of the Gospel writers’ motivation in writing the Gospels, that the actions of Jesus will be recorded and known. His actions continue to bear witness to Jesus each time the Gospels are read. He stand to hear the Gospel reading, because in it we encounter Jesus; we greet him when we hear it: ‘Glory to you, O Lord.’

Fourth there are the scriptures. ‘You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf.’ [v39]. Jesus, of course is talking about the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible. This theme of Jesus being the fulfilment of Old Testament scripture is strong in the New Testament. And it’s important to understand it rightly. It’s not that at special moments prophets uttered certain insightful phrases that generations later people realised were about Jesus. Rather the New Testament belief is that the whole of Israel’s story points to Jesus; in fact the whole story from creation onwards comes to its fulfilment in Jesus. So whilst the New Testament writers occasionally notice such a strong resonance between an Old Testament text and the story of Jesus that they draw attention to it; they are not saying that the rest of scripture isn’t about Jesus. The entire Old Testament story comes to fruition in Jesus life: of creation, of promises, of covenant, of Exodus, of law, of land, of temple, of monarchy, of prophets, of exile, of restoration, and so on. To read the scriptures and miss Jesus is to miss the very thing you are looking for.

Finally, God the Father testifies to Jesus. ‘And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.’ [v37-38]. But the father does not witness in words that are heard in any natural way. To hear the words of the Father means to have his word abiding in you. This is not testimony that counts before a court; it will not save Jesus from the lynch mob. It is of benefit first to Jesus himself, because it is the approval he needs, the only approval he needs to remain motivated in his mission. Jesus has such a single motive that he is not inspired by seeking admiration, pursuing safety, or needing to convince other people – but only by knowing that he does the will of his father. He is true to the prayer,

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do your will. [Ignatius of Loyola]

The testimony of the Father to Jesus is beneficial to others too – to those who have the word of God in their hearts. This is the foundation of every genuine response of faith to Christ. A true ‘I believe’ is to give assent to the Father’s testimony to Jesus within us. And this is for our sake: God does not need to be proved right for God’s sake, not even for Jesus’ sake. The testimony of God is for us.

So we have these five testimonies to Jesus - all reliable, but not equally important. As I’ve intimated a couple of times, the theme of testimony interweaves with the theme of Jesus’ trial at the end of the Gospel. But everything about that trial makes a mockery of true testimony to Jesus: the charges are trumped up, the witnesses testimonies do not agree, the judge knows what the right verdict is but has not got the strength to pass it, the threat of a riot is more powerful than the principle of justice. In the face of such a situation, self-defence - any defence - is useless. In any case whilst Pilate and everyone else are interested in defending their own corner, Jesus desires to do the will of God in an act of love for all people.

Before the court of human approval Jesus is condemned; before the court of God’s approval Jesus is vindicated – and this is announced and celebrated in the resurrection. And the wonderful thing is that by keeping his eyes on God’s will and the well-being of others, Jesus' death becomes a source of life and hope to his oppressors. This is a dynamic that is so rarely realised in our world – though perhaps in South Africa, where Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment became a source of healing and hope for the whole nation; or perhaps in the peace process in Northern Ireland; in situations of hard won peace there are signs of this. Jesus story calls us to recognise that our victim is our hope [n1]. We tell ourselves that our victim is our problem and the world’s problem, that our victims are irrelevant once they are sorted.

But the invitation of faith is to recognise that our victim is our hope. We celebrate it in the Eucharist – we even call the bread the ‘host’, the ‘victim’. If John’s Gospel tells of the trial of Jesus, it is intending us to give a verdict in a different trial, in which Jesus, and the scriptures, and John the Baptist, and Jesus’ works, and the Father are all allowed to speak and their testimony counts. And we are invited to make a judgement, not for Jesus’ sake but for our own. Jesus says to his hearers, ‘You refuse to come to him to have life’ [v40]. John is inviting us to come to the Father through Jesus and find that life. He says it at the end of the Gospel: ‘These are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.’ [20:31].

Notes

n1. The idea that in Jesus we see 'our victim is our hope' comes from Rowan Williams, Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel, p5