Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent – March 17, 2010
John 5:17 – 30
In his defense Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working." For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."
I’ve heard this passage used as an alternative to WWJD (“What Would Jesus Do?”). “What Would Jesus Do?” is hypothetical. There are no firm answers about what Jesus would do in any given contemporary situation, only hints and guesses. Frankly, it can be used to justify any number of responses.
Further, it assumes that the one asking the question has fully taken upon himself or herself the spirit of Jesus, that his/her life is as completely connected to the Father as Jesus’ life was.
Using this passage as a guide seems to be a movement in the right direction. Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing. Some propose, then, that such a standard become the model for our lives. We should see what the Father did and does, then do it.
This proposal has some merit to it, of course, but it does make one huge assumption. Before we ever get to the doing what the Father is doing, we have to see what the Father is doing. I suspect for most of us that seeing would be the huge glitch in the plan.
The spiritual life invites us to a more thorough attentiveness. The spiritual life is a journey in which we notice more and more. We find ourselves seeing God more clearly, and also seeing ourselves, others, and the world with more honesty and depth of compassion.
From my experience companioning persons on an intentional spiritual path, this attentiveness is the most challenging part of the journey. People really do love God. People want to do what is right and good, what makes a difference in the world. But our seeing is so eaten up with the mundane, irrelevant matters that are at the heart of what most of us do from day to day that we can no longer see very well.
The image that I use often is that God is constantly at work, pouring out Godself upon the world like the mighty Niagara Falls . . . millions of tons of water every second cascading over the falls. And we stand at the bottom of the falls, catching a couple of drops in our little glass pop bottles. We miss so much of what God does in us and around us at every moment.
Our challenge spiritually is to see, to wake up to what is already present. We are challenged to find ways to catch more of what God is doing, to catch more of the Niagara-grace that is falling around us at every second.
It’s very difficult, perhaps impossible, to do the things we see God doing if we are not able to see what God is doing. Prayer, spiritual reflection, Sabbath-keeping, and regular examen are contemplative practices that lend themselves to seeing God at work, and then doing what we see.
In his defense Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working." For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."
I’ve heard this passage used as an alternative to WWJD (“What Would Jesus Do?”). “What Would Jesus Do?” is hypothetical. There are no firm answers about what Jesus would do in any given contemporary situation, only hints and guesses. Frankly, it can be used to justify any number of responses.
Further, it assumes that the one asking the question has fully taken upon himself or herself the spirit of Jesus, that his/her life is as completely connected to the Father as Jesus’ life was.
Using this passage as a guide seems to be a movement in the right direction. Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing. Some propose, then, that such a standard become the model for our lives. We should see what the Father did and does, then do it.
This proposal has some merit to it, of course, but it does make one huge assumption. Before we ever get to the doing what the Father is doing, we have to see what the Father is doing. I suspect for most of us that seeing would be the huge glitch in the plan.
The spiritual life invites us to a more thorough attentiveness. The spiritual life is a journey in which we notice more and more. We find ourselves seeing God more clearly, and also seeing ourselves, others, and the world with more honesty and depth of compassion.
From my experience companioning persons on an intentional spiritual path, this attentiveness is the most challenging part of the journey. People really do love God. People want to do what is right and good, what makes a difference in the world. But our seeing is so eaten up with the mundane, irrelevant matters that are at the heart of what most of us do from day to day that we can no longer see very well.
The image that I use often is that God is constantly at work, pouring out Godself upon the world like the mighty Niagara Falls . . . millions of tons of water every second cascading over the falls. And we stand at the bottom of the falls, catching a couple of drops in our little glass pop bottles. We miss so much of what God does in us and around us at every moment.
Our challenge spiritually is to see, to wake up to what is already present. We are challenged to find ways to catch more of what God is doing, to catch more of the Niagara-grace that is falling around us at every second.
It’s very difficult, perhaps impossible, to do the things we see God doing if we are not able to see what God is doing. Prayer, spiritual reflection, Sabbath-keeping, and regular examen are contemplative practices that lend themselves to seeing God at work, and then doing what we see.
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