And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him. It is an option: one can listen to and accept Jesus' Word, but in the midst of this complicated and not at all spiritual world, in the midst of every day persecutions and temptations, one can be incapable of putting it into practice.
This option does not receive His condemnation, if accepted, Jesus' Word keeps its healing and saving power even though it is not always observed. Another possible option is: Whoever rejects me [here the Greek verb is athetèo] and does not accept my words has something to judge him. This is the option of refusing Jesus' Word, indeed the text says, of refusing His own person.
This leads to condemnation, yet not by Jesus but by the Word itself. In what sense? The verb athetèo, “I reject, I refuse something as false, I refuse, I abolish, I do away with, I make vain, I thwart, I defeat,” etymologically means “to take the place of something that has its own place, to deprive reality of its own reality." Considering a non-real thing as real, and vice versa, is an act of idolatry. Athetèo is made of privative-alpha joined to thètos, which means "site," and can be translated more literally as: "removed from its place, put aside."
Jesus never talks about non-faith in Him as an option but to denying/rejecting His word, recognizing that is the truth and beauty of a reality, but at the same time deciding to push it away as if it does not exist.
It will be the very word of Jesus, which in due time will appear as real, as the reality, as the only true reality, that will condemn the hearts that have rejected-thwarted-emptied it, as they will see that they have rejected-thwarted-emptied the truth. This act of rejection means to reject the Spirit Paraclete, it means to deny all forms of intellectual honesty.
The Word of Jesus is not a religious compendium, it is not a constitution on which to found a religion, but it is the guide, the user manual of humanity, it is the entirety of God's procedures outlining how to live the gift of life on this earth, how to enhance it in all its beauty and grace, prosperity and peace that God has planned for us. Therefore rejecting Jesus and His Word is equivalent to rejecting man's spiritual, mental and social evolution, to closing the doors to any awakening, it is annulling the possibility of walking toward peace, true well-being, health and harmony.
Whoever refuses Jesus and His Word does not reject a ritual, a religious confession, but the very knowledge and light of the secrets of life itself. This is the condemnation that comes from the Word itself. Listening to the Word of Jesus and working hard to follow it and to put it into practice is part of the wprkings of the Spirit Paraclete. Rejecting Jesus and his Word is part of the workings of the satanic predator. It is to be noted that when Jesus reminded His people about this truth, Jesus did not simply announce it but, according to the Greek text, He literally shouted it to mankind. It is literally written in verse 44: Jesus cried out [Greek verb krazo, "I cry, I shout"] and said. If Jesus cries out, if God is compelled to shout something, it is probable that it is something that is important and worthy of all of humankind's attention.
In this section you can find a daily commentary on the Gospel of the Day.