John 5:31-47: The Glory that Comes from God

5:31

If I testify [1S Pres Act Indic martureo] concerning myself, my testimony [marturia] is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] not true. 32Another is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] the testifying-one [Nom MS Pres Act Indic martureo] concerning me, and I know [1S Perf Act Indic eido] that true is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] the testimony that he testifies [3S Pres Act Indic marutureo] concerning me. 33You have sent [2P Perf Act Indic apostello] unto John, and he has testified [3S Perf Act Indic martureo] to the truth. 34But I do not receive [1S Pres Act Indic lambano] the testimony from men, but these things I say [1S Pres Act Indic lego] to you that you might be saved [2P 1 Aor Pass Subj sozo]. 35This one was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] a light, burning [Nom MS Pres Pass Part kaio] and shining [Nom MS Pres Act Part phaino], and you were willing [2P 1 Aor Act Indic thelo] to rejoice [1 Aor Pass Inf agalliao] for a time in his light. 36But I have [1S Pres Act Indic echo] the better testimony from John: for the works that the Father gave [3S 1 Aor Act Indic didomi] to me that I might finish [1S 1 Aor Act Subj teleioo] them, the same works that I do [1S Pres Act Indic poieo] testify [3S Pres Act Indic martureo] concerning me that the Father has sent [3S Perf Act Indic apostello] me. 37And the sending-me-One [Nom MS 1 Aor Act Part pempo], the Father himself, has testified [3S Perf Act Indic martureo] concerning me. Neither his voice at any time you have heard [2P Perf Act Indic akouo], nor his form you have seen [2P Perf Act Indic horao], 38and his word you do not have [2P Pres Act Indic echo] in yourselves abiding [Acc MS Pres Act Part meno], for him whom this one sent [3S 1 Aor Act Indic apostello], this one you do not believe [2P Pres Act Indic pisteuo]. 39You search1 [2P Pres Act Impv eraunao] the Scriptures, for you think [2P Pres Act Indic dokeo] in them eternal life to have [Pres Act Inf echo]; and they are [3P Pres Act Indic eimi] the testifying-ones [Nom FP Pres Act Part martureo] concerning me. 40And you do not want [2P Pres Act Indic thelo] to come [2 Aor Act Inf erchomai] to me that you might have [2P Pres Act Subj echo] life.
41

Glory from man I do not receive [1S Pres Act Indic lambano], 42but I know [1S Perf Act Indic ginosko] you, that the love of God you do not have [2P Pres Act Indic echo] in yourselves. 43I have come [1S Perf Act Indic erchomai] in the name of my Father, and you do not receive [2P Pres Act Indic lambano] me; if another came [3S 2 Aor Act Subj erchomai] in his own name, that one you would receive [2P Fut Mid Indic lambano]. 44How can [2P Pres Mid Indic dunamai] you believe [1 Aor Act Inf pisteuo], receiving [Nom MP Pres Act Part lambano] glory from each other, and the glory of the only God you do not seek [2P Pres Act Indic zeteo]? 45Do not think [2P Pres Act Impv dokeo] that I will accuse [1S Fut Act Indic kategoreo] you before the Father; the accusing-you-one [Nom MS Pres Act Part kategoreo] is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] Moses, upon whom you have hoped [3S Perf Act Indic elpizo]. 46For if you believed [3S Impf Act Indic pisteuo] Moses, you would have believed [3S Impf Act Indic pisteuo + an] me, for concerning me this one wrote [3S 1 Aor Act Indic grapho]. 47But if the writings of this one you do not believe [2P Pres Act Indic pisteuo], how will you believe [2S Fut Act Indic pisteuo] my words?

1 The word here may be an imperative (Search the Scriptures...) or an indicative (You search the Scriptures...). The NASB, NIV, HCSB, and ESV translate as an indicative. The KJV renders this as an imperative.

Comment: Again, the context of this passage is Jesus healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, where he essentially claimed to be God by asserting his prerogative to heal on the Sabbath, since My Father is working until now, and I am working (5:17). This of course did not sit well with the Jews: This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (5:18). In 5:19-30, Jesus explained that he only does the will of the Father, but that the Father had given him all judgment. Through this arrangement, he and the Father have set out on a plan to bring the dead to life. In 5:31-47, Jesus lists out all the testimony that bears witness to his unique relationship to the Father as the only begotten Son. Beasley-Murray describes the passage in this way: The train of argument in this section is like a court scene, reminiscent of the trial scenes in the OT, when witnesses are summoned by Yahweh to testify on behalf of the gods of the nations in the face of the manifest truth [page] of the only God, whose witnesses his people are (see esp. Isa 43:8-13; 44:6-11).2 5:31-32, 37-38 The Other Witness: As in v. 19, Jesus begins his discourse on the testimony concerning him by downplaying himself. In 19 he had stated, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. Then, he went on to speak of how everything he is doing (including healing on the Sabbath) was playing into the Fathers plan and the Fathers work to raise the dead. Here, in 5:31, Jesus says, If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.3 The point is not the Jesus would lie about himself, but that as the footnote to the NASB Bible points out, that Jesus self-testimony would not be admissible as legal evidence. In other words, for Jesus to argue his case in front of those who stand ready to condemn him, he must marshal his witnesses. Through this entire passage, Jesus points to the rock-solid testimony of those around him. Before naming his witnesses, Jesus makes a somewhat cryptic statement: There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true (5:32). In v. 33, Jesus begins speaking about John the Baptist. I am not convinced, though, that v. 32 refers to John the Baptist, and I wonder whether this verse might refer to the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Consider John 15:26, where Jesus says, But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. Or, consider 1 John 5:6b: And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is truth. It is the unique role of the Holy Spirit to bear true witness concerning Jesus, just as Jesus bears witness concerning the Father; however, at this point Jesus has not yet revealed the identity of the Holy Spirit in the course of his ministry. I must admit that 5:32 could refer to John the Baptist, whom Jesus discusses in 5:33-35, but I take this as an early reference to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Also, a good case may be made for taking v. 32 as a reference to the Father, since in 5:37 Jesus says, And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me.

2 George R. Beasley-Murray, John, WBC (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), 77-78. 3 The ESV adds the word deemed to Jesus phrase: If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. In my opinion, this addition steers us in the wrong directionthe issue here isnt whether people will believe what Jesus is saying or not; the issue is whether Jesus testimony is admissible as legal evidence.

As a brief survey, John Wesley,4 Lenski,5 and Beasley-Murray6 take this as a reference to the Father. John Chrysostom7 and John Gill8 take this as a reference to John the Baptist. Beasley-Murray most directly addresses this issue of the unnamed witness, so I want to quote his comments in full: Here Jesus stands opposed by the Jews, who demand witnesses to justify the claims of Jesus in his teaching. Jesus proceeds to call them, beginning with Another, an unnamed person but one whose witness he knows to be true (v 32). That Other is God himself, who has provided the witnesses that follow: John the Baptist (33-35), the man sent from God for witness to the Light (1:6-7); the works of Jesus, which the Father had given him to do (36); and the word of God, which the Father attests through the Scriptures (37-40).... 31-32 ...The Fathers testimony is the only witness that matters, but in the trial setting envisaged, Jesus acknowledges the principle of Deut 19:15; since the Jews do not know the voice and form of the other Witness, he adduces three ways in which the Father bears a witness that the Jews can understand.9 According to Beasley-Murray, Jesus is here establishing the two or three witnesses (Deut 19:15) necessary to prove ones case. Each of these witnesses comes from the Father, whose testimony is the only testimony to matter, but who is himself imperceptible to the jury of the Jews here. As I evaluate this, I think Beasley-Murray makes a persuasive case that this statement of Jesus refers to the Father; however, I also think that as we preach this, Jesus pushes us beyond the immediate context of this particular passage to ask ourselves, What witnesses to Christ do we have today? We have John the Baptist and the other eye-witnesses who testified to the resurrected Christ. We have the works of Jesus, foreshadowed and foretold in the Old Testament, preserved in the gospels, and expounded upon in the rest of the New Testament. Finally, we have the Holy Spirit, who testifies and bears witness to us concerning the truth of Jesus. We are not left alone to decipher the Bible as though it were a code able to be cracked only by the most clever among us; we have been given the Holy Spirit who testifies to us through the Scriptures about the salvation extended in Jesus name. Before we go there, though, lets get back to the passageJesus is summoning his witnesses to the stand to give testimony concerning his Sonship to the Father. His Father, of course, would be the star witness, for the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me (5:37a). How, then, does the Father bear witness about Jesus? Jesus explains in v. 37-38 the Fathers testimony is not necessarily an easy thing to ascertain. Even though the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me (5:37a), nevertheless, His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent (5:37b-38). How will the people come to hear and believe the Fathers testimony concerning Jesus if they have never heard his voice, nor seen his form, nor received his word to abide in them?
4 5 6 7 John Wesley, Wesleys Notes on the Bible, <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/notes.i.v.vi.html>. R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 409. George R. Beasley-Murray, John, WBC (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), 78. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of St. John and the Epistle to the Hebrews, Homily XL, <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf114.iv.xlii.html>. 8 John Gill, John Gills Exposition of the Bible, <http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-expositionof-the-bible/john-5-32.html>. 9 George R. Beasley-Murray, John, WBC (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), 78.

How the Father will go about bearing witness about Jesus is the driving question behind this passage. In 5:33-35, Jesus notes the humanyet prophetictestimony of John the Baptist. In 5:36-38, Jesus points to his works as bearing witness to the fact that his Father has sent him. In 5:39-47, Jesus identifies the Scriptures (and Moses, the human author of Scripture) as the undisputable witness in his defense. 5:33-35 The Testimony of the Father in John the Baptist: The first witness whom Jesus identifies is John the Baptist. Jesus gives the impression that the Jews to whom he is speaking had at one point been more or less satisfied with John the Baptist. He points out that You sent to John (5:33, my emphasis), and he states that He [John] was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for awhile in his light (5:35). Yet, the fact that Jesus says that John was a burning and shining lamp suggests that the Jews had completely turned against him since then. Lenski writes: Instead of repenting and believing you only ran out to see and to hear the Baptist, delighted to have again after so long an interval the spectacle of a prophet in your midst. The aorist you did will implies that now it was all over and done with for the Jews. When Herod laid hands on the Baptist, no popular uprising took place, no violent indignation because of this outrage upon a prophet of God was voiced, no concerted effort was made to effect the Baptist's release.10 But, Jesus affirms that Johns testimony is fully reliable: You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth (5:33). John had declared in chapter 1 that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36), and Jesus affirms this testimony that the Baptist had given. Moreover, recall that John spoke of being sent to testify to the Sonship of Jesus:
1:32

And John bore witness: I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. 34And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. (1:32-34) Clearly, the he who sent me must refer to the Father, since the speaker refers to the Spirit and the Son, only the Father is left among the Persons of the Trinity. Moreover, the testimony that John gives explicitly identifies Jesus as the Son of God (1:34). If the Sonship of Jesus is in question, John the Baptist has already given full, prophetic assurances on the matter. Still, Jesus distances himself from Johns testimony to some degree: Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved (5:34). Jesus has been establishing the case that he is the Son of God, related to the Father as a Son from all eternity. The Jews have ultimately rejected Jesus, so John the Baptist might not be the most persuasive witness to have in Jesus' corner. Moreover, it does little good to establish Jesus' eternal Sonship through human testimony, for Johns testimony is purely hearsayhow could a human have a direct, first-hand experience of such a thing? Jesus seems to identify John primarily as a mutually known prophet so that you may be savedi.e., so that they might believe in Jesus through the witness of John. 5:36 The Testimony of the Father in the Works of Jesus: Again, Jesus testimony is not from man:

10 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 406.

36

But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. (5:36-38) Jesus does not base his authority on the testimony of a mere humaneven if the human in question (John the Baptist) is widely recognized as a prophet. Jesus has greater testimony than that. He has the testimony of the Father who sent him. Here, the testimony of the Father exhibits itself in the works that Jesus has been doing. The works testify to the sent-ness of the Son by the Father: For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. Jesus would not be able to do his (miraculous) works unless the Father had sent him to do them; therefore, the fact that Jesus is doing the works testifies to the fact that the Father has indeed sent him.11 Still, the works of Jesus are disputed among the Jews. Of course, they can hardly deny that Jesus has turned water into wine, or that he healed the son of the official in Capernaum, or that he caused a lame man to walkthere were too many witnesses to the miracles themselves to deny them outright. The disputed point of Jesus works centers on whether Jesus is doing the works rightlythat is, in accordance with the Law of Moses. The immediate context of this speech is Jesus healing of the lame man, which Jesus did on the Sabbath. Since no human under the Law may work on the Sabbath, the Jews were contending that Jesus works themselves disqualified him from consideration as the Messiah and the Son of God, no matter how impressive those works might be. In their eyes, Jesus had broken the Law of Moses, making this an openand-shut case. When he then claimed to be the Son of the Father, Jesus only escalated his (alleged) crimes and his anticipated sentence. 5:39-47 The Testimony of the Father in the Scriptures: Since the Jews called Moses to the stand in order to testify against Jesus work on the Sabbath, Jesus now begins to cross-examine Moses himself. To the shock and horror of the Jews, Moses ends up becoming the surprise witness who proves Jesus claims! Jesus first directs the Jews back to the Scriptures:
39

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. Jesus calls the Scriptures themselves as his final, indisputable witness. The Scriptures cannot be disqualified on the basis of hearsay as John the Baptist was, nor can they be disputed on the basis that they are not in accordance with the Law of Moses, since the Scriptures themselves comprise the Law of Moses! The Scriptures, therefore, are rock-solid, indisputable witnesses in the case at hand. Jesus notes that the Jews constantly search the Scriptures. The word for You search can either be an imperative (Search the Scriptures...) or an indicative (You search the Scriptures...). In context, I think that indicative makes a bit more sense here. Jesus is stating that the Jews search the Scriptures, thinking
11 Jesus spoke at length about his works in John 5:19-30. My notes are here: <http://www.scribd.com/doc/86190973/John-5-19-30-Bible-Commentary-for-Preaching>.

that in them they have eternal life, but not realizing that the Scriptures point to Jesus. Furthermore, they refuse to come to Jesus that they might have life. Why, though, would the Jews refuse to come to Jesus for life if the Scriptures do indeed point to him? Jesus explains the root issue that prevents the Jews from believing in him: they have no love for God, but only desire the glory that comes from people:
41

I do not receive glory from people. 42But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (John 5:41-44) How could these people possibly believe in Jesus if they seek only the glory and praise that comes from one another, rather than seeking the glory that comes from the only God? They do not have the love of God within them, so why should they receive the one who comes in the Father's name? They would much prefer to receive someone who comes in their own name, giving and receiving glory from people. Lenski points out that Jesus is alluding to the Shema of Deuteronomy 6 in this statement: In tou monou we have an allusion to Deut. 6:4, etc., Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Jesus had this in mind already in v. 42, where he speaks of the love of God; for Deut. 6:5 continues, And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, etc. These words each devout Jew prayed twice daily in the prayer called Shema.12 This is an incredibly condemning word that Jesus speaks, and we should consider it carefully in our own lives. Why do we really become Christians? Is it actually because of the love of God, or is Christianity convenient to us? Is it the easiest way to obtain influence? Relationships? Power? Better self-esteem? Praise from people around us? If so, then we cannot actually receive Jesus as the one whom God sent. And so by the time we get to v. 45-47, we find that the tables have turned completely. No longer is Jesus the accused, but in fact they are! Moses is accusing them, not Jesus!:
45

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? I can't help but think of C. S. Lewis's essay God in the Dock: The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defence [sic] for being the god who permits war, poverty and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God's acquittal. But the important thing is that Man is on the Bench and God in the Dock.13 These ancient people did not believe that Jesus was God, and therefore they had no problem putting him in the Dock and taking their seats on the Bench. Jesus, however, completely flips the debate, summoning Moses himself to accuse them for treason against the only God and the Son whom he has sent.
12 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 421. 13 C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock, in God in the Dock, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 244.