Reading
Jn 3:31-36
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Comment
It is not known to whom refer the words of this Gospel passage: whether to John the Baptist, to Jesus or to its author himself. Their meaning is a profound call to orient our life correctly.
Jesus had spoken to Nicodemus of the need to be "born again" (Jn 3:3); this rebirth can take place precisely through the encounter with the one who "comes from above" (v. 31), who "is above all" and whose nature is different from someone who comes "from the earth". The term to refer to the earth is not here the kosmos, "the world", which has a strongly negative meaning in the Gospel of John, but ges and indicates the substantial difference between the divine nature of Christ and that of the prophets who preceded him, men earthly, albeit inspired.
While the prophets of the Old Testament received the Spirit according to the importance of the tasks assigned to them, he whom God sent, Christ, "gives the Spirit without limit" (v. 34). His words are words of eternal life (Jn 6:68) and he who drinks from them will no longer be thirsty, rather that water will become in him a spring that gushes for eternal life (Jn 4:14).
Whoever believes in Christ certifies, "puts the seal" (Gr. Sphragizo), on his testimony and allows others to come closer to life. It is not just a question of putting a seal with the lips, pronouncing a formula of faith, but of bearing witness with our whole being to him who sealed his words with blood.
By attesting to where Jesus comes from, the gospel also indicates our destiny. We are therefore invited to seek "the things above" (Col 3:1), cultivating a measured detachment from earthly things. These, in fact, not only do not quench our thirst but increase it to the extent that we are attached to them.
The last verse constitutes the culmination of the whole chapter, placing two alternatives: genuine faith and disobedience, opening or closing oneself to truth and to life. True believers have a foretaste of eternal life right now. Grace is the beginning of glory.
Prayer
Grant us, o Lord, to walk with our gaze turned to you, who have received every good from your father and wish to share it with us. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
