11 April 2013 - overflow

11 April 2013 - overflow

He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.

Why not?  He is the "one who comes from heaven" and is therefore "above all."  Our paradigm is earthly.  We don't have a shared frame of reference.  We don't even have appropriate categories of thought.  And our wills twist words to fit into our current perspectives and to therefore keep us comfortable.

Yet apparently even though no one accepts it some do.  Here is a Gospel paradox.

Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.

How can this be?  The apostles give us a clue when they are reproached for preaching Jesus.


We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

The Spirit himself must give us not only the content of the message but also the means of accepting it.  He must provide new categories of thought and a new volition which won't twist the heavenly to conform it to the earthly (and this is why we should never give up on anyone's ability to receive it).

This is why we should rejoice when he tells us that he "does not ration his gift of the Spirit."

He will fill us even beyond our human ability to receive and accept him rather than rationing himself to us. He himself will become our acceptance of him if we allow him to do so.  There is therefore no limit to what he can do in us.  This is why it is more than we can ask or imagine (cf. Eph 3:20).  This is why belief is so fundamentally important.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,

Belief surrenders or our perspectives, categories, and willfulness to him who is absolutely trustworthy.  It places all of these things at the feet of the Son.  Belief frees God to reveal himself on his own terms.  How could sin and death hinder one who is so filled with God?

We must recognize our own poverty and, simultaneously, the one whose generosity knows no limits.

The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

There are still many earthly words corrupting or speech.  Let us long to be so taken with him that "his praise shall be ever in my mouth."