The Gospel
Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.
“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
The Offering
From Heather Stephens
Most of the graduate programs at the university I work at require applicants to submit two or more letters of recommendations along with the transcripts of their undergraduate coursework. This places part of the fate of the prospective student’s application in the hands of two people who will testify on their behalf. The applicant can only hope that they have chosen the right people who can write eloquently enough to convince a program director to believe the student is a good candidate for the program.
There were many people who did not believe Jesus was the Messiah that had been prophesied about in the scriptures. In a way, they were asking him, “Who do you think you are?” Instead of demanding people accept his word as truth, Jesus pointed to John the Baptist, Moses, and the prophets that had come before him. He said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
If in that moment, Jesus had turned to you and asked you to write a letter of recommendation on his behalf, what would you have written?