Gigi Kammeyer

Dear friend,

The Gospel for today (John 5:30-47) takes place in Jerusalem and is Jesus’ response to the criticism of the Jewish leaders after his healing of the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda. While confronting his opponents with their refusal to honor the one whom God honors, Jesus offers the gift of life and judgement given him by God. Deuteronomy 17:6 specifies that in the Law, a person’s testimony of himself was not valid unless it was corroborated by two or three witnesses. Jesus acts as his own lawyer and calls John the Baptist, his works; and God’s works, God the Father; and the Scriptures as witnesses. Thereby he accuses his Jewish opponents of misunderstanding their Scriptures and alienating God. Despite the Father having testified to his son, Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, they had not heard his voice because their spiritual ears were closed to his revelation. They studied the Scriptures diligently. Jesus said, these are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to receive life.

John the Baptist was well known to the Jewish leaders and they had sent a delegation to him. John had conducted a very public ministry bearing testimony to Jesus. They chose for a time to enjoy his light. There was the testimony of the works Jesus performed, works he had been commissioned to do by the Father. Jesus’ work was his entire ministry, culminating in his death and resurrection. The Father bore witness to Jesus by the bestowal of the Holy Spirit at his baptism.

Jesus introduced his final corroborative witness as Moses. It was Moses, in whom they trusted, who would be their accuser. What they did not realize was that Moses was also a witness to Jesus. Jesus said: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. (The prime example of Moses writing about Jesus is Deuteronomy 18:15: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.) But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Let us all bear witness to Jesus Christ, our Redeemer!

In Christ,
Gigi Kammeyer