Thursday in the Second Week of Easter, April 20, 2023

John 3, 31-36

The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. 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. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.

Today’s Gospel Reading concludes chapter 3 of St. John’s Gospel.  For the sake of clarity and in order to show the context of this Reading, it may be helpful to have an outline of this chapter: verses 1-15, Jesus and Nicodemus speak together: Jesus declares that he is the Son of Man who came down from heaven and that he is here to save the world, not to restore Israel; verses 16-21, John the Apostle speaks of the love of God that brought Jesus from heaven and our need for faith in him; verses 22-30, John the Baptist testifies to Jesus as the Messiah; verses 31-36, John the Apostle elaborates on the Baptist’s words and tells how Jesus, the Messiah comes from God, was sent by God, and speaks the truth about God.

“The one who comes from above is above all.”  John premises his comment by summing up the Lord’s words: “And no man has ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3, 13).  “The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.”  Here John contrasts the one “who comes from above” and so speaks “heavenly things” with the earthly man, again drawing on the Lord’s words: “If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not: how will you believe, if I shall speak to you heavenly things?” (John 3, 12).  “But the one who comes from heaven is above all.”  John makes clear that one one who “comes from above” comes from heaven, from the realm of God and the spiritual realities.  Because he comes from “above”, he is “above all”.  It might be added here that the word translated as “from above” can also mean “from the beginning”, which connects these verses with John 1, 1: “In the beginning was the Word.”

“He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.”  John has posited the one from above and the ones who speak of earthly things and now he shows that they are in conflict.  The Son of God tells what he has seen and heard from the Father.  He speaks of heavenly things.  But his testimony is rejected by those who speak earthly things because it is all they understand and they do not want to know about heavenly things.  His testimony is rejected not because it is false or defective in some way but because those who reject it prefer to cling to earthly things, the transitory and ultimately unfulfilling pleasures of this world.  “Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.”  This sounds like a tautology, but we read it already believing that “the one whom God sent” is trustworthy.  He tells us what he has heard from God, and that God is trustworthy.  We believe what God has told the Son because the we believe in the Son.  Because of the Son, we have heard the words of the Father.  “He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”  It is through the Spirit who inspired the Evangelists and who has been poured out on us that we know the words the Son heard from the Father.

“The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.”  The Lord himself said, “All things are delivered to me by my Father” (Matthew 11, 27).  From all eternity, the Father begot the Son and simultaneously gave him “all things”.  With the Father and the Holy Spirit, he possesses all power over everything in existence.  This giving by the Father is an act of love for the Son.  The Father holds nothing at all back from him but gives him everything.  We call what the Son gives the Father “obedience”, and is an act of love for him.  “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”  Belief and disobedience are set as contradicting each other.  If we do not obey the Son, we do not believe in him.  We must do more than know God: “You believe that there is one God. You do well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2, 19).