Proclamation of Jesus on Palm Sunday

Jesus' whole ministry during his life was to make people understand not who He was but from whom He came. He always called himself the Son of Man instead of the Son of God. However, in at least some of the gospels, he spoke of the Father as His own. In the NIV bible John 12:44 - 50, Jesus makes the imperative statement of who He is in light of His relationship to his Father. I quote the NIV bible:

Then Jesus cried out, When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in me only but in the One who sent Me. When he looks at Me, he sees the One who sent me. I have come into the world as a light so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears my word but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world. But to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words. That very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. Note that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.

Here Jesus proclaims His true union to the Father. He did not need to say "I am His Son." His words come from the very heart of the Father. He is inseparable from the One who sent Him.

He is very clear in His declaration of purpose. He has come not to condemn the world, but to save it. This is the message of the Father. Jesus speaks of those who hear His word and keep them as well as those who hear His word and rejects them. Here, we need to understand the difference between hearing and believing. Since hearing is not always believing, Jesus says that it is not He who condemns those who reject His word. It is their own unbelief that will judge them on the last day.

To understand why Jesus made this perfectly clear as he did, one needs to put this passage into context.

This (John 12: 44-50) took place shortly after Jesus entered into Jerusalem with people hailing him with Palm branches and praise as He road through the streets of Jerusalem as if He were a King. If, indeed, all hailed Him as King, why was it necessary to proclaim His mission and union with the Father so clearly? It is stated in thepassage John 12: 42 of the NIV bible and I quote:

Yet at the same time, many, even among the leaders (of the synagogue) believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees, they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the Synagogue.

It is of these Pharisees whom Jesus referred to when he spoke of those who had heard and yet rejected Him and his word.

Finally, as if those who did not believe were being given a second chance to hear and believe, Jesus states with great authority in John 12: 49-50 of the NIV bible and I quote:

For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. Note that His command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.

These particular verses give me the strongest basis for my belief in Jesus as the Son of God who diligently recounts the Father's message of saving love for all those who hear and believe.

REFERENCES

All quotes are from The NIV Study Bible published by Zondervan

The New American Bible (Saint Joseph Edition) published by the Catholic Book Publishing Company.

My wife, Joyce, is a Eucharistic Minister and has hosted Bible Reflection sessions at a local nursing home. She visits the elderly every week to bring Holy Communion and during Mass, she assists by doing the Readings.

She authored this article.