The question that arises and is foremost regarding Christianity above all else is, “Who is Jesus?” How this is answered has a lot to do with what we believe. Biblical scholars debate whether today’s passage, John 3:31-36 is a continuation of John the Baptist talking with his disciples or these are an insertion by John the author. No matter who is the source of these points of concern, the goal is coming to understand and to believe that Jesus is the one who “comes from above” and the one who “comes from heaven is above all”; he “testifies to what he has seen and heard” and he is sent by God to speak “the words of God”; he is also generous in that he “does not ration the gift of the Spirit”; and the Son is loved by the Father and God “has given everything over to him”.
Each of these phrases are revealing the truth that Jesus is the Son of God who has come from above to reveal the truth about his Father and that he is able to do so because he has seen and has an infinite relationship with his Father. Jesus preaches the Gospel, the Good News, that God loves us, that he seeks and has always sought, to be in communion with us, his created beings. Jesus has come to reveal the love of the Father and that his love is unlimited.
The proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah, is not just revealed in the Gospel of John, but each of the three other Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as the other epistles of the New Testament. Jesus, as the Son of God, is also the key to unlocking the Hebrew Scriptures, and we can see how the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings all point to Jesus as well. Jesus shared this outline of salvation history with Cleopas and the other disciple on the road to Emmaus, such that their hearts were burning within them while Jesus opened the scriptures to them (cf. Lk 24:32).
John the Baptist got it and the Apostle John and the other apostles eventually got it. They came to understand that Jesus is the Son of the Living God and that he offers a model for us to follow, but more than that, Jesus empowers us with his very life. This was a key point of surrender for John the Baptist when he shared with his disciples, the truth that, he, they and we are all called to ascribe to if we are to grow in our faith: “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). May we spend some time in quiet reflection today by pondering the phrases offered to us regarding who Jesus is. Which one, two, or do all of them call to you?
“The one who comes from above is above all.” “The one who comes from heaven is above all.” “He testifies to what he has seen and heard.”
“For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.” “He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.” “The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.”
When we have finished, what is our response? Do we disobey or discount that Jesus is who he says he is or do we “accept his testimony” and “certify that God is trustworthy”? If we “accept his testimony”, are we willing to decrease, such that he will increase his influence in our lives? Do we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?
Reading, meditating, praying with and listening to the Gospel readings, helps us to encounter, sit at the feet of, and be in the presence of Jesus who teaches us in our time as he did with each generation of believers from the time of the apostles to our present age. Are we willing to be still, listen, and come to him daily? If yes, then in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, we will meet the Risen Christ and “know him intimately by the power of the Holy Spirit…” and have “actually touched him” so that we “can witness to him” (Martin and Wright, 79).
Let us not follow the lead of the rich man who walked away sad from his encounter with Jesus. May we instead follow the lead of the Apostles, Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well, Cleopas and his companion, surrender our lives to him, and so be loved, forgiven, healed, transformed, that we may be witnesses of Jesus’ joy.
Photo: Jesus did not ration his love, he gave all of himself, holding nothing back, not even his life, so that we may know him and his Father intimately and so experience the outpouring of their love shared between them, the Holy Spirit.
Pope Benedict XVI, “Homily,” May 7, 2005 found in: Martin, Francis and Wright IV, William M. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015.
Spiritual Stepping Stones