Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

John 5:30

John 5:30. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just. This verse is the dividing line of the discourse, belonging at once to both parts, summing up (to a certain extent) what has gone before, leading on to the new subject which occupies the remainder of the chapter. The last word spoken was ‘judgment.' Jesus now returns to it, and it is not strange that He should do so. He is speaking in the presence of the Jews, His determined foes, who refuse life, whom He judges and cannot but judge. Hence this lingering on judgment, and the recurrence to the first thought of the discourse (John 5:19), so as to show that this judgment is not of Himself, but belongs both to the Father and to the Son. The figure of John 5:19 is changed. There ‘seeing ‘was the word chosen, as most in harmony with the general thought of works done; here it is of judging that Jesus speaks, and hence the same thought of communion with the Father is best expressed by ‘hearing.' One characteristic of this verse is so marked as of itself to prove that the verse is closely related to those which follow. From the beginning of the discourse (John 5:19) Jesus has spoken of the Father and the Son. Now He directly fixes the eyes of His hearers upon Himself (‘I can,' ‘I hear,' ‘I judge'); and this mode of speech is retained to the very end of the chapter.

Because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. That His works have not been and cannot be against the authority and will of God, Jesus has shown by pointing out their essential unity with those of the Father (John 5:19). That the judgment He must pass is just, He has shown by the same proof, ‘as hear I judge.' But a second proof is now given, or rather (perhaps) a second aspect of the same truth is brought into relief, that thus His words of rebuke and warning may be more effectually addressed to the Jews. His action is never separate from that of the Father, there can be no variance: His will is ever the will of His Father, there can be no self-seeking. It was because the opposite spirit dwelt and reigned in the Jews that they were rejecting Him, and bringing judgment on themselves. The transition to the first person, ‘I,' ‘my,' suggests an objection that would arise in the minds of the Jews. This is met in the verse that follows.

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Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

John 5:30

Old Testament

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