by Fr. Francis Martin

John 5:30-32:³⁰ "I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me. ³¹ "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified. ³² But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.”

From the mouth of the Word made flesh we catch a glimpse of the fire of love that is the life of the Blessed Trinity. While the One who is speaking is revealing to us the decisions of his human will, he is also revealing a secret about the depth of his relation to the Father: he is not seeking his own will but “the will of the one who sent me.” We catch a glimpse of that interaction in Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane: “Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will" (Mk 14:36). Meditating on this Gethsemane scene, St. Maximus the Confessor tells us: “We are saved by the human decision of a divine Person.” Human salvation is worked within the confines of human existence—this is the will of God. The Letter to the Hebrews alludes to this Gethsemane prayer and interprets it through the words of Psalm 40: “As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.” The Letter then adds: “By this ‘will,’ we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10: 7-10). When Jesus, in the text we are meditating upon, claims the witness of the Father on his behalf, he is sure that the Father will testify to the reality of his Son and to the depth of their union and oneness of their will. To receive this testimony we must gaze on the Cross and, by faith and love, penetrate the wound in Jesus’ side and heart. Then we may be granted entrance to that secret place where the Father’s eternal gaze of love is forever bearing witness. This is the Father’s testimony which is forever true.

Father, lead me to that place of testimony. Enable me to cling fast to your will always and remain in your truth. Amen.