Saturday after Exaudi Sunday
Posted on May 18, 2024 by under
Scripture: St. John 8:12-19 (NKJV)
8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”
14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. 17 It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”
19 Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”
Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”
Devotion
People have often talked about knowing God. Philosophers have tried to reason their way to the Father. But God the Father is ultimately Deus absconditus, the hidden God. He partly reveals Himself in the Old Testament, but it is mysterious. He is in the burning bush and the pillar of cloud or fire over the tabernacle. But, as it says in Hebrews: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” Jesus reveals the Father to us. He reveals the Father’s will toward us.
In this passage He says; “I am with the Father.” He is alluding to the Holy Trinity. That is why His witness is not alone. He is not alone. The Father corroborates the Son’s witness of Himself. When two or three witnesses agree, the thing is established. Here we have Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in perfect agreement. If anyone presumes to know God’s will or God’s plans by any other way than the Word of Christ, he is speaking nonsense. Jesus is the medium for knowing the Father aright. May we all focus upon the God who reveals Himself to us in His Word.
Collect: Almighty, everlasting God, make us to have always a devout will toward Thee, and to serve Thy Majesty with a pure heart; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
