John 12:50 is Jesus’ last statement before his passion begins; it is the end of John’s exposition of 6 “signs” that comprise the first half of the Gospel of John and the beginning of the 7th sign that is the substance: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

John 12:50a, translated literally reads as follows: “I know that the commandment of the Father is eternal life.” The definite article means that there is only one commandment, and every commandment is included in this one.

Jesus does NOT say, “The commandment of the Father leads to eternal life.” Nor does he say “The commandment of the Father is eternal life IF you happen to obey the commandment and IF NOT, he’ll issue another commandment.” JUST, “The commandment of the Father is eternal life.”

Which raises two obvious questions:

#1 Who can fulfill this commandment?

#2 What should be the Father’s punishment for those who don’t?

One day long ago, I judged that my son had reached an appropriate age, and so I issued a command and made a commandment. I said, “Jon, you will mow the lawn; you will work the garden. You will mow the lawn once a week on Saturday.”

Jon had begged me to let him do just that when he was 6 years old, but at 15, it was another matter. So early one Saturday, I just stormed into his bedroom; I woke him from sleep, and I began to yell.

I said: “Jonathan, you have broken the commandment! Because you have not mowed the lawn, you will never mow the lawn. Even if you want to mow the lawn and cry out to me begging me to let you mow the lawn, it is too late: My patience has run out, my mercy has come to an end. JONATHAN HIETT, YOU WILL NEVER EVER MOW THE LAWN AGAIN!”

Jonathan looked at me, smiled, and said, “Thanks, Dad!” Then rolled over and went back to sleep.

And, of course, that didn’t actually happen . . . because it’s absurd.

But if it did happen, who would then be punished? I would be punished with endless resentment, and so mow the lawn in anger, and never enjoy the garden. …And yet, this is exactly how the Church has explained the punishment of God.

Who would actually want to punish God our Father? It sounds satanic.

And who is even capable of disobeying the Commandment of God? What God commands is called “Creation.”

On day one, God says, “Let there be light,” and there is light. Etc. etc.

On day seven, everything is good, and “It (all) is finished.”

And yet, on day six, there is a hiccup... God commanded a thing to do some things and not do other things. But that thing doesn’t do those things, and that thing is us; we are adam. God said, “Let us make adam in our own image and likeness.” And each one of us said, “Nope. I’m not going to let you; it’s not going to happen; I’m not mowing the lawn.”

The Father’s Commandment is Eternal Life. And we think that we have the power to change that commandment into endless conscious death? How can that be? Who do we think we are?

In John 12:31-32, just before He mentions “The Commandment of the Father,” Jesus says, “Now is the Judgment of this world. Now is the ruler of this world cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Last time, I shared that surrendering to the Judgment of God — the one judgment of God, NOW — must look less like one of those end times movies and more like that little video of my very first conversation with my grandson, James.

When I first met James, I said, “He’s perfect,” and yet, I knew that something was wrong. He wasn’t aware of myself, himself, or any self. He was alone. He was unaware of the arms that held him. He was unaware of the love that was all around him.

Many years ago, God literally pinned me to the floor and told me to stop doubting His love for me. It was as if He pulled back a veil, and I saw that He was everywhere and every when loving me. It was as if in a moment, His psyche became my psyche, and I saw that what I had intended for evil, He intended for good. It changed the meaning of my past and transformed how I perceived the future. For about three weeks, I couldn’t worry. I still did everything I used to do; however, it didn’t feel like work but play. I still went everywhere I used to go, but instead of walking, I was dancing. All my labor was rest; everything was worship; it was all Sabbath — that’s the 7th sign that is the substance.

And then…it wore off. And yet I knew, even that was by design. So now, every day I try to stop thinking about my past and worrying about my future; and I can only do that by focusing on the glory of God, NOW. I can only do that by focusing the eyes of my heart on the eyes of my heavenly Father, in the same way that James can see himself reflected in my eyes and know: He is the apple of my eye. So, I can know that I am not what I have done; I am what God has done and is doing. He has already made up His mind about me. It’s the Last Judgment (actually the only Judgment), NOW.

We exist on a timeline moving in only one direction, terrified of God’s judgment in the future and so haunted by our judgments in the past, for we think final judgment is the judgment of all of our judgments (as if God didn’t know what these would be) which will determine if God commands endless blessings or endless cursing. And so, we hide from God, trying to impress God, until we realize that we can’t make ourselves in the image of God with our own judgments. It’s then that we see another Judgement. It’s not on the timeline, and yet it was revealed on the timeline. It’s eternal; it’s the Light; it’s Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead. A commandment is a judgment that’s been verbalized and given to another.

Jesus is the Commandment of God; He is the Word of God.

Everything that’s anything is the Commandment of God.

That Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; Jesus is all around you — and I would expect you to say, “It doesn’t seem like it!” And I would concur. So, maybe the Bible is NOT true . . . or maybe we’re dreaming or maybe trapped in only two dimensions of reality, unaware of the third, or even trapped in just one …like on a timeline.

That would NOT mean that what we experience is not real, but that we’re not perceiving all that is real. And so, you tell yourself that Beauty, for instance, is just an idea in your head, and Truth is simply a concept that you can turn into a lie, and Love is only a hormone rather than the Creator of hormones. In other words, you’re utterly unaware of the arms that constantly hold you and the face of your Father constantly whispering, “Say dada, say dada.”

With those thoughts in mind, perhaps we can hear John 12:33-49. However, if you’re committed to your own judgments on the timeline, it will burn the “Hell” out of you.

John writes, “Though Jesus had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him [pisteuo: have faith, trust].... So that the Word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord [the arm that holds us] been revealed?’ Therefore, they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” That’s Isaiah 53:1 and 6:10.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah sees Jesus high and lifted up on the throne of God and “the whole earth is filled with his glory.” Isaiah cries out “I’m dead” but is then atoned for and told to preach Israel down to a stump that is “The Holy Seed.” It’s Jesus, the Commandment of God and all things in Him.

When Jesus was crucified, no one believed the Word of God, and yet Jesus believed the Word and spoke the Word: He prayed Psalm 22. He had faith in the midst of our unfaithfulness. He is the Holy Seed. And like He just told us: Unless a seed dies, it remains alone. He died and delivered up His Spirit — the same Spirit that falls on us at Pentecost and wells up from within us like a fountain. He is the Word, the Promise, the Seed, and we are His Body.

Why would God, our Father, make it so that people could not believe? Maybe so that when they did believe, they would know that Faith is always a gift, as is the glorious face of our Father? Why do loving parents play peek-a-boo with their infants? Why do they hide their face and suddenly reveal that face? Isn’t it to hear their infants squeal with delight as they begin to know: “Mom and Dad aren’t me but know me. They’re a gift to me. And I am never alone even when I feel alone; we are three persons, yet one substance — one Life of Love.”

So, what is it that makes me take my eyes off of the timeline, off of myself, my own judgments, and the illusion that I am my own cause and effect, long enough to glimpse the judgement of God? If I think it’s my own free will (free of God) — if I think that I’m writing the story of my own salvation, then I’m casting myself in the role of savior, the Savior of me. That’s Me-sus. It’s Me-sus that keeps me from seeing Jesus. It’s my own bad judgment . . . from which I need to be saved by the Good Judgment of God: Jesus

John 12:50, “I know that the commandment of the Father is eternal life. What I speak therefore I speak as the Father has spoken (and is speaking) me.”

Jesus is the Commandment of God. And so is all creation (the forever new and eternal creation). And so are you. And so, your free will is not of yourself, it is the judgment of God in you, manifesting as the Commandment of God that is you — the real you. You cannot be proud of that as if it were your own, but you will be forever grateful for that. It is the will of our Father, rising from the dead in you... and causing us all to “Mow the lawn and care for the garden as if every step were a dance, all our work was play, and all our labor was rest... a holiday, a Holy Day.”

The Commandment of our Father is the Punishment of our Father and the Gift of our Father: We will all care for the garden, for each other, and for our Father because we sincerely, passionately, and freely want to. We will love as we have been loved and therefore know infinite Joy.

My dad used to wake me on Saturdays (The Sabbath!) and make me mow the lawn. If I didn’t, he’d just start mowing... not to shame me... and yet, it would remind me: I want to share in his Joy. This is hard to confess: I’m 64 now, I really miss my dad, and sometimes, sort of, a little bit... I really enjoy mowing the lawn.