praying through john

I do not accept human praise; In light of surrounding verses and the note one the verse, Jesus means that he won't take praise from people who are sinners and unholy. And I translate this into meaning the small 'good job' that you give to your friend for doing something well. This praise Jesus speaks about aren't enough. If we merely praise Jesus, we aren't giving him everything he deserved. We are not worshiping him, the action that must be carried out to show Jesus how we truly feel about him and respect him. I also shouldn't be content with human praise. What does it mean that my brothers and sisters notice that I may be doing something holy? Really it only matters whether or not God sees the holiness in us and if our hearts are truly filled with love and not hate. It only matters if Jesus praises us, because then that means we are doing what he wants and making him happy.

Me: But I do believe in you. I do want to have eternal life. I also want to have life on earth. I want to celebrate life. I don’t want the happiness to leave me because I have it and when I am in your grace I am happiest! Jesus: But what about times you betrayed me or didn’t stand up for me or didn’t want to come to me when something else was more appealing or an easier path? What about when you turned your back to me in mortal sin, because in those moments you would not be allowed nor want life. But because you are truly sorrowful and say you want life and at times act like you want life, I will extend it to you. I will give you moments to explore that happiness and love that comes with it, so that you may strife to continue to work towards me. I will give you the knowledge to remember that in times of darkness or times of doubt.

Being in the advent season has made me realize how true this statement of Jesus is. I have heard many readings in Isiah, and every passage has a reference to Jesus. In hindsight, those passages point to him.  Jesus, Help me to look to see you in the Scripture. Open up your words to me so that I may see you in every moment and passage I explore. Encourage me to explore the Old Testament even though it may not be as alluring as the New Testament. Help me to understand what you are trying to teach me in these verses of the gospel of John. Teach me the patience to go through it verse by verse and to pick your voice out of them. Help me to seek you through the Scripture rather than eternal life like the people you are speaking to. Amen. 

Do I belive in Jesus? Do I believe he is the only son of the Father? Do I believe he conquered death? Do I believe he actually rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the Father? My immediate thought is that yes, I do believe these things. Of course i wouldn’t put myself into the group with these people. But what does it mean to believe in Jesus? It doesn’t just mean saying I believe in him. It means so much more! It means devoting myself to him and doing as he taught. It means being the holiest and most saint-like person I can be because he lives! It means giving up those things that pull me away from him like books or tv shows or movies that may totally take away from God’s message. It means devoting time to prayer so that God will have the opportunity to remain in myself, and taking the Eucharist so we can be fully untied. 

How has the Father testified? What has he done? Could it possibly be that he testifies by sending his son down? Or ‘allowing’ Jesus to have the power to do these things? Or sending/making signs so that people will understand. If we can’t hear or see the Father how are we supposed to know that he is testifying? What other ways can we learn fro the Father? Jesus is right: I have never seen or heard his voice. But why does that mean I don’t understand his testimony? Isn’t faith a way to know his testimony even if we can’t hear or see it? I was once told it is best if we know Jesus, then we will know the Father and the Holy Spirit. But shouldn’t we also try to get to know the other two, especially if we are blind and deaf to the Father. We should strive to open ourselves up to situations where we can learn to hear the Father’s voice and see the Father in our lives and the lives of others. 

Why does Jesus need to point out that these works he is doing is to accomplish a goal? It seems like he is trying to prove something to the Jews. But that is why Jesus came down, to show people that he is God and to allow people to get to know himself in a more intimate and personal way. How many times in the gospels does Jesus show us that he is God and that the Father sent him to do certain things? He tells us a lot, we just don’t always listen. Jesus know he was going to perform difficult tasks when he came down to earth. He knew his purpose on earth. And Jesus performed all these tasks because he knew the Father wanted him to. He knew if he didn’t, his purpose on earth wouldn’t be fulfilled. And like Jesus says, these tasks testify to Jesus because they are of a divine nature- to perform miracles or healing and taking away sins and conquering death. All of these things testify to who he truly is. 

He was a burning and shining lamp, and for s while you were content to rejoice in his light. Jesus is telling us about a situation where we focus on something that may be good and be able to point us towards a beautiful thing. But he is pointing out that this can only last for a while. For a while I may focus on something that may be a positive thing, but it's not Jesus. Jesus reminds us that by focusing on these things, we are focusing on a human and imperfect aspect of our religion. One thing that comes to mind is the Pope. Too often do I think we rejoice in his light and at times forget his role in our lives. Sometimes, with the help of media, we focus on the fact that he is the highest ranking member of the church. But it's important to remember he is the man who helps God's revelation be known. The Pope helps us to get to heaven. He isn't someone we should worship, but rather revere. And just like John the Baptist, the Pope is awesome and while we shouldn't worship him, we should rejoice in the fact that he helps us get to the true light.

I do not accept testimony from a human being, but I say this so that you may be saved. Tons of thoughts are running through my head about what this could mean. Jesus could be saying he does let want is to waste our lives trying to prove he exists because there is nothing we can do as humans to prove a divine existence. And many other things Jesus could mean, but he wants us to be saved. That is why he is telling us these things. He wants us to be able to spend eternity in heaven with him. And the things he tells us will allow us to achieve that end so we can follow him. We aren't called to testify and prove his existence, that is the Father's role! The Father can testify for Jesus, but we are called to other things we are called to pray to him and pray with the saints and live a life dedicated to him and to serve him and care for others and do our best in this world so that we may glorify him. We are called to be saved, and to allow Jesus to save us. Only if we allow Jesus to do the one thing he came to earth for can it happen.

But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. Another implies only one other person that can testify on Jesus' behalf. This one other person must be someone who is an equal to Jesus. How can testimony of a human be enough to satisfy a diving need? Doesn't it seem that only something of equal or greater magnitude should be able to testify for another? Thus, the Father needs to be the one to testify for Jesus. The Father, an equal of Jesus, two of the persons in the one God. The Father is the one who stands above all else, he allowed his only son to come down. Only he is able to give testimony. For who among any of us can testify to the truth? Only God knows the truth and we learn our truth from God. The Father testifies and Jesus is the human and divine witness of the Father's love. The witness who is willing to sacrifice himself and defend himself to the Jews who are persecuting him and be willing to die because people don't believe in His love.

Jesus is teaching us that we are called to testify to all those things for which we are passionate about. We are called to testify to love, like the song by Avalon. And what is the point of testifying for ourselves. Even Jesus said he can’t testify on his own behalf. He is showing us that we need to support our brothers and sisters in everything they do, so long as it is in line with God’s will. He is appealing to our reason, that there must be proof and second testimony to confirm what is going to happen.  Jesus, Help me to remember to testify to you in every way possible. Help me to do actions that show love to others. Help me to offer up situations that don’t exactly make me the happiest person to you. Help me to offer those situations as a prayer to you and as a way to glorify you. Help me to live a life such that I may grow closer to you so that my testimony becomes more credible in the eyes of others and your Father. Amen. 

Jesus tells us he judges as he hears us. It’s another reminder that we are supposed to defend Jesus and our words should be in accordance with his teaching. We shouldn’t use the Lord’s name in vain. We shouldn’t say mean things to one another or behind one another’s backs. Everything we say or do is seen by God. He knows everything and it’s not like he is going to pretend he didn’t hear what we said if it was harmful to either ourselves or another person. Jesus listens to us! And he is fair, just, and true. Jesus is the truth, the overall and everything truth. And not only is he looking our for us but also the Father and the Holy Spirit. And just as Jesus says he can’t do anything on his own, presumable without the Father, so too can we not do anything except because the Father allows us the free will to do it. We should worship him for that fact alone!

Jesus is speaking here of those who have died, but the same holds true for us today. We are not exempt from this judgement and placement in a certain location. Jesus tells us to have faith and that is admirable, but Jesus also tells us we need to have good deeds as well. Only with good deeds, Jesus tells us, will we be able to participate in the resurrection of our bodies and soul together in heaven. Only with good deeds does one get to participate in eternal life. But that should be obvious! We don’t deserve to be able to participate in this when we do wicked deeds. And Jesus says those who have done wicked deeds will be condemned, which seems like a hard punishment at first, but then those people who perform deeds as such don’t want that eternal life, they only live for the here and now. So it is our duty to continually be aware that we are performing good deeds rather than wicked deeds to we can have eternal life. 

Jesus is telling them that those who have died will have the chance to hear Jesus speak and be given the opportunity to respond to Jesus. This is foreshadowing the death and resurrection of Jesus; he is telling the disciples that there will be a time when even those who have already passed will see Jesus’ judgement Jesus doesn’t let anyone go by him in either direction. He wants to make sure that each and everyone of us will have the opportunity to be saved.  Dear Jesus, Remind us that you came to earth to heal all souls, even those who it may seem are already past being saved or don’t deserve to be saved. We are called to recognize all people in all their moment and state of being served. Please help me to see everyone through your eyes and to be merciful to those around me. Help me to give people the same opportunity to present themselves as you allow them to do to you. Amen. 

Why is it so important that this judgement occurs because he is the Son of Man? At first glance I think that should be an anti-argument because man is sinful and therefore in many instances, if not all, is not able to make a proper and fair judgement based on the sin committed. It seems that this power, though, is given to a specific person not just a generic man. This power has been given to THE Son of Man. The person who is a descendant from Adam, the person who has been given rule over to the world. And this person is to be marked as special because he is not like all the other men, but rather was trustworthy that this power to judge would be used well and fairly, and that it would not be used in a sinful way. This man is the one, the only one, who is here to know us and judge us at the end. 

The Father has life and he is life. He wasn’t given life, he just was. And he has life as a part of himself which is why he can give life back to people after they have fallen dead. And just like the Father, the Son has this power. So life is in Jesus, which gives a reason why death couldn’t conquer Jesus, If he was/is life, then nothing can end life, especially if it is of a divine nature. And the Father can never be conquered and was never made because he is life, the essence of why everything exists. And then thinking about the world- how do you kill life? You can’t because then everything bad would happen and there could be nothing good. If the essence of life dies, no one could live, everything would dies. But just as Jesus does, he dies a death, but the life with in him keeps him alive and allows us to have the same thing happen so we may live an eternal life and never die.