Jesus speaks what he hears from the father

smedleyfrancis96@..., a user from metacrawler.com, asked this question on 1/19/2001:

In the book of John, Jesus repeatedly mentions how he only speaks what he hears from the father and how the holy spirit also does not speak on his own but only proclaims what belongs to Jesus. This theme comes up so often that there must be more to it than that it is just an explanation of the Trinitarian relationship. What am I missing here?

Greetings

All the gospels and specially the gospel of Saint John want to transmit faith, life and salvation. Only in the second place, they want to give doctrine. In the fourth gospel, it's quite evident that the author wants to express salvation by the Son's relationship with the Father as the icon, promise and guarantee of the future relationship of the adopted sons with the Father in heaven.

An indication of this we can see in the fact that in John, "Father" is used for God some 115 times. The absolute use predominates. We find "your father" only once (20:17), and "our father" and "father in the heavens" not at all.

That is very significant. It's no much the teaching that constitutes the act of revelation but the self-giving. And that comes to fulfillment in the self-giving of the Son as he takes up the cup the Father gives him to drink (18:11) in a union of the Father�s love (10:17) and the Son�s obedience (10:18). Only when the saving work is done does Jesus make his Father in the true sense the Father of the disciples as well (20:17), for he is the only way to the Father (14:6).

The Holy Spirit works out the new relationship as an abiding gift (14:18ff.), and the disciples are brought into a parallel knowing (10:14-15), loving (15:9-10), union (14:20), and sending (17:18). The original relationship of Jesus with His Father is then reproduced in the adopted sons.

What is the part of the faithful? The Greek word "to hear" supposes and implies as in its Aramaic - Hebrew equivalent a strong percentage of obedience.

Consequently, I suggest that the undercurrent of "hearing" is the obedience of the Son � "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work." (4:34).

Obeying is doing. So, when the believer really hears the Lord (Jesus Christ or the Father) he is enabled through the obedience of the Son to do what he hears. He will then receive the light, life, bread, cup, and vision, in short, the oneness with the Father. He gets to be a real (adopted) son of the heavenly Father. In other words, the way Jesus hears the Father is like an anticipation of our hearing the Father.

There is an evident test to find out if we hear as Jesus hears: when we are able to do (to live) what we hear from God. That includes that we can drink the cup.

Conclusion: the absolute "dependence" of the Son and the Holy Spirit from the Father the icon of what John thinks is the characteristic of every Christian, of every son or daughter of God.

Sorry if I just repeated what you already know and live.

vale

mscperu