Sunday, August 14, 2011

August 14 - Witness, Word and Advocate

[Jesus said] ‘I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgement is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 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. 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. 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.

‘You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 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. 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? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?’ --John 5:30-47


There's this funny word, veracity. It means accuracy, a recounter of factual information, having a reputation for telling the truth. We expect that people will tell us the truth -- people like doctors, lawyers, legislators, merchants, teachers, and priests. Then there is Jesus, telling his disciples that what someone else says about him has more veracity than what he says about himself.


In today's world, a suspect would probably be examined thusly


"Where were you when the crime was committed?"

"I was at home, sir, asleep."


"What witness do you have to the fact that you were at home and sleeping at that time?"


"Well, none, sir. I was there alone."


The policeman isn't going to take the guy's word for it without some corroborating statement from a reliable source. Evidently there were some in Jesus' company who wouldn't accept his word at face value either. Evidently God's testimony was either not sufficient or easily overlooked, so that left the prophet John as the reliable source.

It's a horrible feeling to tell the truth and not be believed. The world of Jesus' time was much more word-oriented than our own; if a person gave their word then that was their bond and their reputation was on the line if they proved to be liars, exaggerators or cheats. Today it seems like snake-oil salesmen are everywhere and few have faith in the words of people that even 50 years ago would have been like gold. Betrayals, exaggerations of someone's honesty or something's worth, accusations of malfeasance or suggestions of impropriety have created a climate of mistrust and it is hard to know just who to believe.

The disciples faced this, since in their world a man could not testify to his own honesty; only third parties could so testify and had to do it publicly or it did not count. A person could brag about their honesty, truthfulness and reliability, but without the words of someone else, it was just hot air. Come to think of it, that part really isn't so different today.


But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1 John 2:1c-2 (NRSV)

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