“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me.” (John 5:30)
What does Jesus mean by 'my judgment is just'?
In the statement above, Jesus is giving credit for what has been translated to "judgment" to God. As mentioned before, this translation* to "judge" and "judgment" is a mistranslation. The Greek words being translated to "judge" and "judgment" here are κρίνω and κρίσις. Using the Greek lexicon:κρίνω means to 1) to separate, put asunder, to pick out, select, choose
κρίσις means to 1) a separating, sundering, separation
Jesus is not referring to God giving him the ability to judge others, as God already knows us and is thus the only true judge. Jesus is talking about God giving him the ability to select those to whom he teaches and gives his knowledge to. This ability to select those to whom to teach was granted by God to Jesus because of their loving relationship.
Because Jesus was God's servant and representative, God trusted Jesus to select those to whom he wanted to teach the confidential knowledge. This is why Jesus selected certain disciples and students, who were able to convene with him privately while he explained some of his parables and so on.
Who is the 'Him who sent me'?
With this statement, Jesus is clearly indicating that someone sent him. Jesus says, "Him who sent me." Who is "Him"?Jesus is referring to the Supreme Being. This is confirmed by many other statements by Jesus, deferring to God.
Jesus is clearly indicating that he is God's messenger. This comes from the Greek word, πέμπω (pempō), which means, "to bid a thing to be carried to one." Jesus is referring to his carrying messages from God to us. Jesus is clarifying that he is God's messenger - illustrated in the phrase, "Him who sent me”.
Did God need to send Jesus?
Does the Supreme Being need anyone else to do things? No. God is self-sufficient. God can do anything He wants without anyone's help.Jesus, on the other hand, is illustrating clearly that he is dependent upon God. A person who submits that they rely upon God is someone who has given their life to the Supreme Being.
Furthermore, because Jesus seeks not to please himself, but rather seeks to please God ("I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me"), Jesus is describing himself as God's loving servant.
A slave is forced to work for the pleasure of his master, but a loving servant chooses out of free will to please the one he loves. Jesus' entire life and teachings were geared toward pleasing God. This is because Jesus loves the Supreme Being.
A loving relationship requires two distinct individuals. God is a distinct individual. Jesus is distinct from God. This is why Jesus says, "By myself I can do nothing." There are two distinct individuals, and one person (Jesus) is dependent upon and loves another Person (the Supreme Being).
Each of us has the free will to choose to love the Supreme Being or not. This, however, does not mean that we are in control. We have choice, but not control.
Those who feel that they are self-sufficient and in control are deceiving themselves. They too, are subject to the control of the physical world. If we decide not to submit to God's will, then we are simply submitting ourselves to the control of the physical world.
Do we have control over this world?
None of us can rule the physical world. Even those who have achieved positions of great power, such as kings and presidents, cannot control the physical world. They cannot control the weather. They cannot control disease, suffering and so many other events that take place in the physical world.They may think they are in control, and certainly, they might achieve minimal authority over certain affairs, but they are not in real control. That have to follow the rules of the physical world.
One of the central components of the physical world is time. No one, even those who have gained the power and authority over large populations, such as Alexander the Great or Constantine, could control time.
This is why all the great kings, presidents and other leaders are dead now. They had no control over time. They had no control over when their physical body would die. They might have delayed it a bit with medical care, but in the end, they had no control over time.
As for the rest of us, we also have to follow all the rules of the physical world, which include the rules of government, banking, social expectations, the workplace, disease, money, and of course, time. We are controlled by the forces of the physical world, whether seemingly put there by man or nature, we are dominated. We are controlled. If we are not one of God's servants, we are servants of the physical world.
This doesn't mean that we don't have the freedom to choose our path. We do have this freedom. It is also called 'free will.'
Each of us has free will to choose our direction in life. We may not be able to control the outcome, but we can still make choices. Once we make our choices, the world follows suit in such a way as to provide a path but also to teach us.
That is the nature of this world. Yes, it does respond to our choices. We may not be able to control it, but we can help tame this world by making the right choices.
Where we put our love is the most important choice we make. Should we put our love on God, He will reciprocate. If we don't, He will make Himself invisible to us.
One of the central components of the physical world is time. No one, even those who have gained the power and authority over large populations, such as Alexander the Great or Constantine, could control time.
This is why all the great kings, presidents and other leaders are dead now. They had no control over time. They had no control over when their physical body would die. They might have delayed it a bit with medical care, but in the end, they had no control over time.
As for the rest of us, we also have to follow all the rules of the physical world, which include the rules of government, banking, social expectations, the workplace, disease, money, and of course, time. We are controlled by the forces of the physical world, whether seemingly put there by man or nature, we are dominated. We are controlled. If we are not one of God's servants, we are servants of the physical world.
This doesn't mean that we don't have the freedom to choose our path. We do have this freedom. It is also called 'free will.'
Each of us has free will to choose our direction in life. We may not be able to control the outcome, but we can still make choices. Once we make our choices, the world follows suit in such a way as to provide a path but also to teach us.
That is the nature of this world. Yes, it does respond to our choices. We may not be able to control it, but we can help tame this world by making the right choices.
Do we have free will?
Love requires free will. If we didn't have the freedom to love God or not, then there would be no such thing as love for God. It would be slavery to God.
Should we make the choice to love God, God will guide us towards achieving this goal. We may not achieve it suddenly, but the guidance will be there for us to continue to choose.
Jesus showed us how to do this with both his teachings and his life. While he spoke with authority as God's representative, he never claimed that authority: Jesus always gave that authority to God, and he was constantly seeking to please God. This is why Jesus is saying (above) that "I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me.”
What Jesus is saying is that pleasing God gave Jesus more pleasure than pleasing himself. This is called love.
This is the very essence and nature of love. When we truly love someone, we receive our pleasure by pleasing the person we love. Jesus showed that by his life.
And ironically, those who live for their own selfish pleasure are constantly miserable. In other words, we gain no real pleasure by seeking our own pleasure.
We also cannot simply go about our pleasure-loving ways, and then go to church on Sundays and expect that we can just wipe all the consequences of our selfish ways on to Jesus so that we can go back and keep doing them. In order to receive Jesus' saving grace, we must decide to change. While complete change is a gradual process - and comes only with God's help - we can decide we want to change at any time.
Jesus showed us how to do this with both his teachings and his life. While he spoke with authority as God's representative, he never claimed that authority: Jesus always gave that authority to God, and he was constantly seeking to please God. This is why Jesus is saying (above) that "I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me.”
What Jesus is saying is that pleasing God gave Jesus more pleasure than pleasing himself. This is called love.
This is the very essence and nature of love. When we truly love someone, we receive our pleasure by pleasing the person we love. Jesus showed that by his life.
And ironically, those who live for their own selfish pleasure are constantly miserable. In other words, we gain no real pleasure by seeking our own pleasure.
We also cannot simply go about our pleasure-loving ways, and then go to church on Sundays and expect that we can just wipe all the consequences of our selfish ways on to Jesus so that we can go back and keep doing them. In order to receive Jesus' saving grace, we must decide to change. While complete change is a gradual process - and comes only with God's help - we can decide we want to change at any time.
Yes, we can decide at any time that we want to live for God rather than living for ourselves. This is what Jesus came to teach us, and also what his ultimate sacrifice (of giving his life in the service of God) was intended to teach us.
Thus, rather than trying to fictionalize that Jesus is God, we must see and portray Jesus accurately. Jesus clarifies with this statement that he is God's confidential loving servant. We must worship Jesus in this way, and decide for ourselves, whether we, too, want to heed Jesus' primary instruction:
“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matt. 22:37-38)
*Here is the translation of this verse according to the Lost Gospels of Jesus:
"By myself I can do nothing; As I hear, I make choices, and my choices are just because I do not seek to please myself but to please Him who sent me." (John 5:30)
