If
I testify about myself, my witness is not valid. It is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me. The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. You don’t have his word living in you; because you don’t believe him whom he sent.
John 5:31-38
John 5 [24.] “Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.
John 5 [31.] “If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid. It is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me. The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. You don’t have his word living in you; because you don’t believe him whom he sent.
John 5 [39.] “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life. I don’t receive glory from men. But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves. I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Meaning:
Jesus has made astonishing claims: that he gives life, that all judgment belongs to him, and that he must be honoured as the Father is honoured (John 5:18-23). His hearers would naturally ask what evidence supports such claims. In these verses Jesus answers like a man in a courtroom, calling his witnesses: John the Baptist, his own works, and the Father himself. The Scriptures, the fourth witness, follow in John 5:39-44.
- “If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid”
Under the Law of Moses one person’s word was not enough to establish a case: “At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15). Jesus accepts that standard. He does not mean his words are untrue; later he says his testimony is true because he knows where he came from (John 8:14). Here he meets his opponents on their own ground: he will not ask them to believe him on his word alone. “Another,” the Father, testifies about him.
- “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth”
The leaders had sent priests and Levites to question John the Baptist, and John pointed them to Jesus (John 1:29). He declared, “I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34). John’s Gospel introduces him as one who “came as a witness, that he might testify about the light” (John 1:7). Yet Jesus does not depend on human approval; he mentions John for their sake, “that you may be saved.”
- “He was the burning and shining lamp”
John was not the light himself but a lamp, giving light that came from another. For a time the people were glad to enjoy his ministry, for “all hold John as a prophet” (Matthew 21:26). But their enthusiasm was short-lived.
- “The very works that I do, testify about me”
Jesus’ works are a greater witness than John’s words. The healing of the lame man that started this conflict (John 5:1-9) was one of the works the Father gave him to accomplish. Later Jesus would say, “The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me” (John 10:25).
- “The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me”
The Father spoke at Jesus’ baptism: “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Yet the leaders had “neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.” As John writes, “No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son… he has declared him” (John 1:18). Though they studied God’s word, it did not live in them, because they refused the one God sent.
The Significance of John 5:31-38
- Faith rests on evidence
God has given abundant testimony to his Son through prophets, works and his own voice.
- Hearing God’s word truly
It is possible to know much about the Bible without having God’s word living in us. The test is whether we receive the Son he sent.
Cross-References:
Deuteronomy 19:15: “At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.” The legal principle behind Jesus’ words.
John 1:34: “I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” John the Baptist’s witness.
Mark 1:11: “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The Father’s testimony.
John 8:18: “I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.” Jesus’ two witnesses.
Conclusion: In John 5:31-38 Jesus responds to the demand for evidence by calling his witnesses. John the Baptist testified to him and was a burning and shining lamp, but Jesus’ own works and the Father himself give even greater testimony. Sadly, his hearers had not heard the Father’s voice or let his word live in them, because they did not believe the one he sent. The passage shows that God has given strong testimony to his Son and calls us to receive it.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible