John 5:31-40

II. The testimony of the Father, in support of that which the Son renders to Himself: John 5:31-40.

Jesus had just ascribed to Himself marvelous works. Such declarations might provoke an objection among His hearers: “All that which thou affirmest of thyself has no other guaranty than thine own word.” Jesus acknowledges that His testimony has need of a divine sanction (John 5:31-35); and He presents it to His adversaries in a double testimony of the Father: 1. That of His miracles (John 5:36); 2. And that which is found from old time in the Scriptures (John 5:37-40).

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

XXIX.

Vv. 31-40.

1. The presentation of the testimony on which He rests His claims is opened by Jesus with the words of John 5:31. These words must be interpreted in connection with John 8:14, and must therefore be understood as conveying the idea, that, if the only witness which He has to offer is His own, He is content to be judged by the ordinary rule. Such, however, is not the fact. He is supported by the testimony of another, and that other even God Himself. Being thus able to appeal to this highest of all testimony, He is also able to say (John 8:14) that, though in a given case He actually bears witness of Himself, the witness is nevertheless true.

2. That the ἄλλος of John 5:32 is God, and not John the Baptist, is indicated by the reference to THE testimony in John 5:36, which clearly points back to this verse, and by the evident parenthetical and subordinate character of the reference to John. This reference to John, however, is quite significant, especially in connection with the prominence given to John's testimony in all the earlier part of this Gospel. The witness of John would have led these Jews to the truth, if they had suffered themselves to be influenced by it. It was a divinely-appointed testimony preparatory and at the foundation. But it was not that on which Jesus rests and that which proves the truth. This latter is the testimony which comes from God only.

3. The testimony which comes from the Father is manifestly declared, in the first place, to be that of the miraculous works. Whether there are two other forms of testimony referred to, or only one, it is somewhat difficult to determine. That which is given in the Old Testament Scriptures is distinctly set forth; and this may, not improbably, be all that is intended by the words of John 5:37-40. It may be, however, that in John 5:37 there is a reference to something else which, as it would seem, can be only the voice of God in the soul. The latter is favored by the fact that the direct mention of the Scriptures does not occur until John 5:39, and even an indirect allusion to them is not apparent until John 5:38. The words, “Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form,” may be regarded as pointing in the same direction. On the other hand, had this reference to the Divine voice in the human soul been intended, it would seem natural that it should have been brought out with greater fullness and clearness. On the whole, the reference to the testimony in the Scriptures may be regarded as covering all that is said in John 5:37 ff., and the words of John 5:37 b may be taken in a semi-figurative sense, as implying that they had not really recognized God in His true teaching and the pointing of His revelation towards the Messiah and the Messianic kingdom, when they read and searched the Old Testament writings.

4. The verb ἐρευνᾶτε is, in all probability, an indicative. The development of the thought does not suggest a demand or exhortation, but a statement of their failure, through unwillingness, to appreciate the testimony of the book which they themselves were always looking into and the study of which they demanded.

5. The two testimonies which are here set forth the works and the Scriptures bear witness, the first as, in the strict sense, a σημεῖον which made known the power of God as possessed by Jesus; the second, as showing that the indications of the Old Testament all looked towards such a person and teaching and work as they now saw before them. To announce the coming of this Messianic era and the Messiah Himself, John the Baptist had appeared and given his witness to them. He had aroused their attention and interested their minds for the time. He had thus, as it were, opened the door for them to appreciate the new testimony presented in the works, and to understand fully the old testimony contained in the Scriptures. That they did not yield to the force of the testimony, either old or new, was indisputable proof that they had not the word of God abiding in them that they had really never seen or known Him in His revelations that their will was not to receive the witness which was given.