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Morning Meditation for Epiphany
January 9, 2026
Reading: John 8:12-19
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid, for it is not I alone who judge but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
Meditation by Peter Vanderveen
What makes Jesus admirable? Or, if you were asked, what would you say about Jesus that, in your mind, makes him worthy of note? He is not just remembered. Many people believe that he should be emulated. The church goes so far as to claim that he should be worshipped. Why?
Much acclaim follows the attribution to someone that he or she is a G.O.A.T. (this acronym began in the sports world, but it has become so widely used that it no longer needs explanation). This is generally an assessment made about just one skill or another. We marvel about something distinct that someone does better than anyone else. Was Jesus a G.O.A.T.? If this term is appropriate, what, then, is being referenced? Was he the greatest human being of all time? How could we possibly determine this?
What I was originally taught was that Jesus (being God incarnate) was able to do miraculous things. He fed thousands in a single afternoon. He healed people who were wounded and sick without any use of pharmaceuticals or any knowledge of medicine. He defied the laws of nature by such displays as walking on water or calming storms. And, maybe just as significantly, he acknowledged and spoke to outcasts. He seemed unbothered by the usual limitations we face that can lead us to suffering and tragedy; and there are many who still, today, seek from Jesus this kind of relief, either for themselves or for others. (Wouldn’t we all be better off if we could say that we have a God like this on our side?)
But Jesus, according to John, didn’t make any of these things his own central claim. It wasn’t that Jesus did spectacular things. Jesus stated his difference from all others in just four simple words: “I judge no one.” Would this have been top on your list in describing Jesus? It’s a statement as bold as it is hidden when it’s put into action. And it’s hardly what the church has exemplified in all the ways it has urged people to follow Jesus.
This remarkable claim is made all the more stunning by how John situated it within the hilarity of the conversation with the Pharisees. Their entire concern was judgment. It was making sure that Jesus spoke and acted within the rules and the laws that governed their sense of propriety and truthfulness. And in his usual manner, Jesus playfully twisted them up with their own words. God, he, contended, need not submit to their sense of order. To “judge no one” could not be imagined by the Pharisees; only God could act in such a way.
And maybe for us, this is where we need to continually start (again and again) in our considerations about Jesus, plumbing the depth of what he said his mission was, and finding ourselves continually surprised by God’s freedom in not doing what we can’t help but do. Then the essential nature of true worship would be made clear.
Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
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