Authentic Belief in God vs. Problematic "Knowledge" of the Mosaic Law - Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

The Gospel Reading of Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent (John 5:31-47), follows the narrative of yesterday’s Gospel Reading (John 5:17-30). These Gospel Readings contain Jesus’ verbal response to those who accused him because Jesus healed the paralytic man on a sabbath day, as described in the Gospel Reading of Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent (John 5:1-16).

The entire Gospel Reading (John 5:31-41) is the continuation from Jesus’ words in response to the accusation against him: violation of the Sabbath commandment and equating himself with God by indicating that he healed the paralytic man on a sabbath day as his Father’s work (John 7:17-18). Apparently, his accusers did not know who Jesus really is. That is why Jesus began to speak about what he was sent by the Father for in the context of his unique relationship with Him to see if they would come to believe in him (John 5:19-47).

It is about understanding the Christological nature of Jesus in his relationship with the Father. Not to mention, Jesus’ relation to the Father is part of the Trinitarian relation among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  So, first Jesus speaks of who can give a valid testimony to him. No human but only John the Baptist can give a valid testimony to Jesus (John 1:19-34). Other than John, it is the very works performed by Jesus, which is also the works of the Father, and for which the Father has sent him, and the Father, make valid testimonies to who Jesus is (i.e. Matthew 3:17) (John 5:31-37).

Jesus now points out his accusers’ profound problem for telling that their inability to understand his works, including healing the paralyzed man on a sabbath day, is not only their blindness to see who Jesus really is, as the Christ the Son, sent by the Father, but really attributed to their problematic faith, not having the Word of God in them because they did not really believe in the Father who sent him (John 5:38). Therefore, their involvement with the Scripture is rather meaningless and give false testimonies to Jesus (John 5:39-40).

Then, Jesus presses on the hypocrisy in his accusers in contrast to him (John 5:41-47). Though Jesus does not accept human praise, they do (John 5:41, 44). Rather than seeking human praise, Jesus points out that they should strive to be worthy of God’s praise on them (John 5:44; cf. Matthew 23:12; 1 Peter 5:6). Their problem of seeking human praise, rather than to be praise-worthy to God contributes to their blindness to the Christological truth in Jesus and their problem of faith in God.

Because of their own sinfulness, which they were not aware of and unwilling to examine, they remain blind to the truth and are not able to truly believe in God, for which they are subject to be judged according to the Mosaic Law, the very Law that they used to accuse Jesus (John 5:44-46). Had they been able to understood the Mosaic Law, then, they would have believed in him through his words (John 5:47).

The question is: Would the accusers of Jesus, who are hypocrites, acting as if they were righteous with the Mosaic Law but they are not, as pointed by Jesus, would ever wake up so that they would not be subject to be judged by the Law, so that the wrath of God would not be upon them?

God’s wrath is real. But it can be averted through a competent intercessor, like Moses, as in the First Reading (Exodus 32:7-14). So, it is good to have such an intercessor. For us, Jesus is the most powerful intercessor (Romans 8:34). But, we need to wake up to our sinfulness so that we can repent and convert our hearts to be praise-worthy to God. Then, our vision is clear to see who Jesus is, the Christological truth in him in the context of the Trinity, and the meaning of his works on earth.

With an unrepentant heart, with blindness to our sinfulness, which often manifests in hypocrisy and arrogance, it is impossible to see who Jesus is in the context of the Trinity. Unless resolving this problem, your faith may remain pathological like the faith of those who accused Jesus. If we repent and convert, having a clear vision to see who Jesus is, you also see him as the greatest intercessor for us so that we understand that how we can benefit from God's mercy when we fall to sin again.

Do we hear Jesus speaking? Do his words increase your believe in him in the context of the Trinity? If not, we would be like a bunch of the accusers of Jesus.