May 26, 2021 John 5: 40-41
39 ‘You search the scriptures because you think
that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40Yet you refuse to come to me to have
life. 41I do not accept glory from human beings. 42But I know that you do not have the love of God
in you. 43I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another
comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44How 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? 45Do not
think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom
you have set your hope. 46If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about
me. 47But if
you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?’
There
is frustration in Jesus’ words in verse 40.
The Jewish Leadership is looking for something, it is looking for
eternal life. That is the Messianic Expectation
that gives them hope against the Romans.
The idea that there will be an heir of David to sit on that great king’s
throne forever. Christianity has the
idea of eternal life fairly thoroughly worked out. It did not ever really occur to me to
consider that the Jews had that same expectation, that same desire, in that
time and place.
Where
does that lack of awareness come from? I
think it is from what I know of Judaism today, distancing itself from Christianity. And as we read Jesus here, as we progress
through the New Testament, it may strike us as weird that the Judaism would
distance itself from Christianity, as we developed from Judaism, through
Jesus. But to read the history between
our religions since the time of Jesus, it is NO wonder to me at all that Judaism
wants to keep a safe distance from Christianity. We do NOT have a good record of dealing with
our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I have
never really progressed past the military and political expectations of the
Messiah at the time of Jesus, and then in focus on the ways that Jesus did NOT
fit those expectations. There is an
interpretive note that “we” Christians got Jesus ‘right’ while the Jewish Leadership
got him ‘wrong’. That breeds arrogance, ‘us’
versus ‘them’.
Jesus
seems to build on that theme when he goes on to say he does not accept glory
from human beings. I think that is a
two-edged statement. On the one edge,
the purpose of humanity, according to the Westminster Standards, is to glorify
God and enjoy God forever. That is a “God
the Father” thing, and Jesus, standing as an intermediary, is, I believe, on
the one hand, saying that he will not accept the glory of human beings for himself
over and against the Father.
But I
also believe there is another piece to this.
Refusing the ‘glory’ of human beings is meant to prevent any hint of self-aggrandizement
in the eyes of the people. It is to try
and prevent exactly what has happened, an ‘us’ and ‘them’ turning into ‘us’
versus ‘them’ in matters of faith. As I
have said, our history with Judaism is not good as a religion.
That
leads to another thing. It was very
tough for me, an American Presbyterian in the 21st century, to look
back on the blood and horror of Christian history without pointing at it and
saying “That isn’t me.” This is not
limited to the times when Jews have been assaulted, exiled, and killed by
Christians, many times on the excuse “They killed Jesus” (which is why I am
careful to look at the Jewish leadership in considering Jesus’ debates).
It is
not just about how my faith has treated others, but the religious wars within
my faith. “You believe wrong therefore I
will kill you.” I do not know just how
far we can remove ourselves from the love and purpose of Jesus when we fall
into that kind of thinking. And it is ‘we’. Christians are Christians. I have never killed anybody in the name of
Jesus, so I have two choices when it comes to Christian history. The first is to deny it, that “my”
Christianity is somehow better than “their” Christianity. Or I accept it. This was done in Jesus’ name. It is wrong and we are seeking to do better.
Because
that is the very nature of faith. We
have Jesus’ forgiveness and are called upon to strive to do better, knowing
that Jesus will pick us up again even when we fall. There are compelling reasons why Jesus’ words
back in John “Yet you refuse to come to me to have life” still resonate today. It is the history of violence and sin that
marks our own history. Today, we have it
packed away, glossed over. Cannot tell
you the last time I used the Crusades or the religious wars after the
Reformation as a sermon illustration.
There will be freedom when we do comes to terms with it. More later.
Peace,
Pastor Peter
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