31 He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony . . . 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life . . .
Socrates told a story in which a group of men were chained backward facing to the wall of a cave. Whenever light would come into the cave the men could see shadows from things outside as they were cast upon the back of the wall. Socrates said the shadows were as close to seeing as the prisoners ever got. But one day one of the prisoners was set free. He escaped the cave and he saw the world outside the cave as it really was - no longer in shadow form. He returned to the cave to tell his fellow prisoners of the world outside, but they were afraid of what he tells them; they are content with the shadows.
In John's Gospel Jesus is the man born from heaven - someone who is free from the partial blindness of this world's shadows. He sees life for what it really is - or at least what it could be. This is what the scripture means when it says he "comes from heaven" and "bears witness to what he has seen and heard." He comes not so much to tell us what heaven will be like once we die and go there; instead he comes to tell us that we too can share in a heavenly way of life today if we would allow him to unshackle us from the wall.
Trust the man from heaven. He has seen a way of life that is far more than we could ask for or even imagine while still changed to the wall. It is a life full of peace which surpasses all understanding, and love for our neighbors, and absent of all bitterness toward our enemies. If you do not have these things, then you're still in chains, settling for a shadow of what life could be. If you will allow yourself to be unchained from the wall and find the courage to step out of the cave, then you will discover a light and life that no one should miss.
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