I did not speak on my own

WEDNESDAY 6 MAY (Jn 12,44-50)

In the Gospel according to John, truth, mother of all truth, is the being of Jesus from the Father. It is not just a matter of missionary or ministerial obedience as his true prophet, true king, true priest or other. Being from the Father of Jesus is of nature, rather than of vocation or mission. The Father and Christ are one divine nature. The Persons are distinct, the nature is one. The truth of Jesus is thus announced by the Holy Spirit: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him” (Cf. Jn 1,1-18).

The unity of being becomes unity of will, mission, redemption and salvation: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3,16-18). “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work” (Jn 4,34).  “Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, his son will do also. For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes. Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to his Son, so 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” (Jn 5,19-23). “Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent”  (Jn 6,26-29). “So Jesus said (to them), “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him”” (Jn 8,28-29).

With Chapter XII the public mission of Jesus ends. From this moment on he will no longer speak to his people. He will enter the Upper Room, his trial, death sentence and glorious resurrection will follow. How does Jesus close his speech that goes from Chapter I to Chapter XII? With a solemn testimony on his full, perfect, daily and universal obedience on his part towards the Father. What He has said and done, does not come from his heart. Not even the modalities come from Him. Instead, everything comes from the heart of the Father and from his divine and eternal will.

Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”

These words are the seal placed by Jesus on his mission which is entirely from the Father. Whoever does not believe in Him does not believe in the Father who sent him. It is the sealed truth.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints make us of very pure faith in Christ Jesus and faith in the Father.