1NachG3326 diesemG5023 warG2258 ein FestG1859 der JudenG2453, undG2532 JesusG2424 ging hinaufG305 nachG1519 JerusalemG2414. 2Es istG2076 aberG1161 inG1722 JerusalemG2414 beiG1909 dem SchaftorG4262 ein TeichG2861, derG3588 auf hebräischG1447 BethesdaG964 zubenamt istG1951, welcher fünfG4002 SäulenhallenG4745 hatG2192. 3InG1722 diesenG5025 lagG2621 eineG4183 MengeG4128 KrankerG770, BlinderG5185, LahmerG5560, DürrerG3584, [die auf die BewegungG2796 des WassersG5204 wartetenG1551. 4DennG1063 zuG2596 gewissen ZeitenG2540 stiegG2597 ein EngelG32 inG1722 den TeichG2861 herabG2597 undG2532 bewegteG5015 das WasserG5204. Wer nunG3767 nachG3326 der BewegungG5016 des WassersG5204 zuerstG4413 hineinstiegG1684, wardG1096 gesundG5199, mitG3739 welcherG1221 KrankheitG3553 irgend er behaftet warG2722.] 5Es warG2258 aberG1161 ein gewisserG5100 MenschG444 daselbstG1563, der achtunddreißigG5144 G3638 JahreG2094 mitG1722 seiner KrankheitG769 behaftet warG2192. 6Als JesusG2424 diesenG5126 daliegenG2621 sahG1492 undG2532 wußteG1097, daßG3754 es schonG2235 langeG4183 ZeitG5550 also mit ihm warG2192, spricht erG3004 zu ihmG846: Willst duG2309 gesundG5199 werdenG1096 ? 7Der KrankeG770 antworteteG611 ihmG846: HerrG2962, ich habeG2192 keinenG3756 MenschenG444, daßG2443 er michG3165, wennG3752 das WasserG5204 bewegt worden istG5015, inG1519 den TeichG2861 werfeG906; indemG1722 G3739 ichG1473 aberG1161 kommeG2064, steigtG2597 ein andererG243 vorG4253 mirG1700 hinabG2597. 8JesusG2424 sprichtG3004 zu ihmG846: Stehe aufG1453, nimmG142 deinG4675 BettG2895 aufG142 undG2532 wandleG4043! 9UndG2532 alsbaldG2112 wardG1096 der MenschG444 gesundG5199 undG2532 nahmG142 seinG846 BettG2895 aufG142 undG2532 wandelteG4043. Es warG2258 aberG1161 anG1722 jenemG1565 TageG2250 SabbathG4521. 10Es sagtenG3004 nunG3767 die JudenG2453 zu dem GeheiltenG2323: Es istG2076 SabbathG4521, es istG1832 dirG4671 nichtG3756 erlaubtG1832, das BettG2895 zu tragenG142. 11Er antworteteG611 ihnenG846: Der michG3165 gesundG5199 machteG4160, derG1565 sagteG2036 zu mirG3427: NimmG142 deinG4675 BettG2895 aufG142 undG2532 wandleG4043. 12[Da]G3767 fragten sieG2065 ihnG846: WerG3739 G5101 istG2076 der MenschG444, derG3588 zu dirG4671 sagteG2036: NimmG142 [deinG4675 Bett]G2895 aufG142 undG2532 wandleG4043 ? 13Der GeheilteG2390 aberG1161 wußteG1492 nichtG3756, werG5101 es seiG2076; dennG1063 JesusG2424 war entwichenG1593, weil eine VolksmengeG3793 anG1722 dem OrteG5117 warG5607. 14DanachG3326 G5023 findetG2147 JesusG2424 ihnG846 imG1722 TempelG2411 , undG2532 er sprachG2036 zu ihmG846: SieheG2396, du bist gesundG5199 gewordenG1096; sündigeG264 nicht mehrG3371, auf daßG3363 dirG4671 nichtsG3363 ÄrgeresG5501 G5100 widerfahreG1096. 15Der MenschG444 ging hinG565 undG2532 verkündeteG312 den JudenG2453, daßG3754 es JesusG2424 seiG2076, derG3588 ihnG846 gesundG5199 gemacht habeG4160. 16UndG2532 darumG1223 G5124 verfolgtenG1377 die JudenG2453 JesumG2424 [undG2532 suchtenG2212 ihnG846 zu töten]G615, weilG3754 er diesG5023 amG1722 SabbathG4521 tatG4160. 17JesusG2424 aberG1161 antworteteG611 ihnenG846: MeinG3450 VaterG3962 wirktG2038 bisG2193 jetztG737, und ichG2504 wirkeG2038. 18DarumG1223 G3767 nunG5124 suchtenG2212 die JudenG2453 noch mehrG3123 ihnG846 zu tötenG615, weilG3754 erG3089 nichtG3756 alleinG3440 den SabbathG4521 brachG3089, sondernG235 auchG2532 GottG2316 seinen eigenenG2398 VaterG3962 nannteG3004, sich selbstG1438 GottG2316 gleichG2470 machendG4160. 19DaG3767 antworteteG611 JesusG2424 undG2532 sprachG2036 zu ihnenG846: WahrlichG281, wahrlichG281, ich sageG3004 euchG5213: Der SohnG5207 kannG1410 G3756 nichtsG3762 vonG575 sich selbstG1438 tunG4160, außerG3362 wasG5100 er den VaterG3962 tunG4160 siehtG991; dennG1063 was irgendG302 erG1565 tutG4160, dasG5023 tutG4160 auchG2532 der SohnG5207 gleicherweiseG3668. 20DennG1063 der VaterG3962 hatG5368 den SohnG5207 liebG5368 undG2532 zeigtG1166 ihmG846 allesG3956, wasG3739 er selbstG846 tutG4160; undG2532 er wird ihmG846 größereG3187 WerkeG2041 alsG3187 dieseG5130 zeigenG1166, auf daßG2443 ihrG5210 euch verwundertG2296. 21DennG1063 gleichwieG5618 der VaterG3962 die TotenG3498 auferwecktG1453 undG2532 lebendig machtG2227, alsoG3779 machtG2227 auchG2532 der SohnG5207 lebendigG2227, welcheG3739 er willG2309. 22DennG1063 G3761 der VaterG3962 richtetG2919 auch niemandG3762, sondernG235 das ganzeG3956 GerichtG2920 hat er dem SohneG5207 gegebenG1325, 23auf daßG2443 alleG3956 den SohnG5207 ehrenG5091, wieG2531 sie den VaterG3962 ehrenG5091. Wer den SohnG5207 nichtG3361 ehrtG5091, ehrtG5091 den VaterG3962 nichtG3756, derG3588 ihnG846 gesandt hatG3992. 24WahrlichG281, wahrlichG281, ich sageG3004 euchG5213 G3754: Wer meinG3450 WortG3056 hörtG191 undG2532 glaubtG4100 dem, der michG3165 gesandt hatG3992, hatG2192 ewigesG166 LebenG2222 undG2532 kommtG2064 nichtG3756 insG1519 GerichtG2920, sondernG235 er ist ausG1537 dem TodeG2288 inG1519 das LebenG2222 übergegangenG3327. 25WahrlichG281, wahrlichG281, ich sageG3004 euchG5213, daßG3754 die StundeG5610 kommtG2064 undG2532 istG2076 jetztG3568, daG3753 die TotenG3498 die StimmeG5456 des SohnesG5207 GottesG2316 hören werdenG191, undG2532 die sie gehört habenG191, werden lebenG2198. 26DennG1063 gleichwieG5618 der VaterG3962 LebenG2222 inG1722 sich selbstG1438 hatG2192, alsoG2532 G3779 hat er auch dem SohneG5207 gegebenG1325, LebenG2222 zu habenG2192 inG1722 sich selbstG1438; 27undG2532 er hat ihmG846 GewaltG1849 gegebenG1325, [auch]G2532 GerichtG2920 zu haltenG4160, weilG3754 er des MenschenG444 SohnG5207 istG2076. 28Wundert euchG2296 darüberG5124 nichtG3361, dennG3754 es kommtG2064 die StundeG5610, inG1722 welcherG3739 alleG3956, die inG1722 den GräbernG3419 sind, seineG846 StimmeG5456 hörenG191 29undG2532 hervorkommen werdenG1607: die das GuteG18 getan habenG4160, zurG1519 AuferstehungG386 des LebensG2222, die aberG1161 das BöseG5337 verübt habenG4238, zurG1519 AuferstehungG386 des GerichtsG2920. 30IchG1473 kannG1410 nichtsG3756 G3762 vonG575 mir selbstG1683 tunG4160; so wieG2531 ich höreG191, richte ichG2919, undG2532 meinG1699 GerichtG2920 istG2076 gerechtG1342, dennG3754 ich sucheG2212 nichtG3756 meinenG1699 WillenG2307, sondernG235 den WillenG2307 dessenG3962, derG3739 michG3165 gesandt hatG3992. 31WennG1437 ichG1473 vonG4012 mir selbstG1683 zeugeG3140, so istG2076 meinG3450 ZeugnisG3141 nichtG3756 wahrG227. 32Ein andererG243 istG2076 es, der vonG4012 mirG1700 zeugtG3140, undG2532 ich weißG1492, daßG3754 das ZeugnisG3141 wahrG227 istG2076, welchesG3739 er vonG4012 mirG1700 zeugtG3140. 33IhrG5210 habt zuG4314 JohannesG2491 gesandtG649, undG2532 er hat der WahrheitG225 Zeugnis gegebenG3140. 34IchG1473 aberG1161 nehmeG2983 nichtG3756 ZeugnisG3141 vonG3844 einem MenschenG444, sondernG235 diesG5023 sage ichG3004, auf daßG2443 ihrG5210 errettet werdetG4982. 35JenerG1565 warG2258 die brennendeG2545 undG2532 scheinendeG5316 LampeG3088; ihrG5210 aberG1161 wolltetG2309 fürG4314 eine ZeitG5610 inG1722 seinemG846 LichteG5457 fröhlich seinG21. 36IchG1473 aberG1161 habeG2192 das ZeugnisG3141, das größerG3187 ist als das des JohannesG2491; dennG1063 die WerkeG2041, welcheG3739 der VaterG3962 mirG3427 gegeben hatG1325, auf daßG2443 ich sieG846 vollbringeG5048, die WerkeG2041 selbstG846, dieG3739 ichG1473 tueG4160, zeugenG3140 vonG4012 mirG1700, daßG3754 der VaterG3962 michG3165 gesandt hatG649. 37UndG2532 der VaterG3962, der michG3165 gesandt hatG3992, er selbstG846 hat Zeugnis vonG4012 mirG1700 gegebenG3140. Ihr habtG191 wederG3777 jemalsG4455 seineG846 StimmeG5456 gehörtG191, nochG3777 seineG846 GestaltG1491 gesehenG3708, 38undG2532 seinG846 WortG3056 habt ihrG2192 nichtG3756 bleibendG3306 inG1722 euchG5213; dennG3754 welchenG3739 G1565 er gesandt hatG649, diesemG5129 glaubetG4100 ihrG5210 nichtG3756. 39Ihr erforschetG2045 die SchriftenG1124, dennG3754 ihrG5210 meinetG1380, inG1722 ihnenG846 ewigesG166 LebenG2222 zu habenG2192, undG2532 sieG1565 sind esG1526, die vonG4012 mirG1700 zeugenG3140; 40undG2532 ihr wolltG2309 nichtG3756 zuG4314 mirG3165 kommenG2064, auf daßG2443 ihr LebenG2222 habetG2192. 41Ich nehmeG2983 nichtG3756 EhreG1391 vonG3844 MenschenG444; 42sondernG235 ich kenneG1097 euchG5209, daßG3754 ihr die LiebeG26 GottesG2316 nichtG3756 inG1722 euchG1438 habtG2192. 43Ich binG1473 inG1722 dem NamenG3686 meinesG3450 VatersG3962 gekommenG2064, undG2532 ihr nehmetG2983 michG3165 nichtG3756 aufG2983; wennG1437 ein andererG243 inG1722 seinem eigenenG2398 NamenG3686 kommtG2064, denG1565 werdet ihr aufnehmenG2983. 44WieG4459 könntG1410 ihrG5210 glaubenG4100, die ihr EhreG1391 voneinanderG3844 G240 nehmetG2983 undG2532 die EhreG1391, welche vonG3844 GottG2316 alleinG3441 ist, nichtG3756 suchetG2212 ? 45WähnetG1380 nichtG3361, daßG3754 ichG1473 euchG5216 beiG4314 dem VaterG3962 verklagen werdeG2723; da istG2076 einer, der euchG5216 verklagtG2723, MosesG3475, aufG1519 denG3739 ihrG5210 eure Hoffnung gesetzt habtG1679. 46DennG1063 wennG1487 ihr MosesG3475 glaubtetG4100, so würdet ihr mirG1698 glaubenG4100 G302, dennG1063 erG1565 hat vonG4012 mirG1700 geschriebenG1125. 47WennG1487 ihr aberG1161 seinenG1565 SchriftenG1121 nichtG3756 glaubetG4100, wieG4459 werdet ihr meinenG1699 WortenG4487 glaubenG4100 ?
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE IMPOTENT MAN HEALED--DISCOURSE OCCASIONED BY THE PERSECUTION ARISING THEREUPON. (John 5:1-47)
a feast of the Jews--What feast? No question has more divided the Harmonists of the Gospels, and the duration of our Lord's ministry may be said to hinge on it. For if, as the majority have thought (until of late years) it was a Passover, His ministry lasted three and a half years; if not, probably a year less. Those who are dissatisfied with the Passover-view all differ among themselves what other feast it was, and some of the most acute think there are no grounds for deciding. In our judgment the evidence is in favor of its being a Passover, but the reasons cannot be stated here.
2 sheep market--The supplement should be (as in Margin) "sheep [gate]," mentioned in
Neh 3:1,
Neh 3:32.
Bethesda--that is, "house (place) of mercy," from the cures wrought there.
five porches--for shelter to the patients.
3 impotent--infirm.
4 an angel, &c.--This miracle differed in two points from all other miracles recorded in Scripture: (1) It was not one, but a succession of miracles periodically wrought: (2) As it was only wrought "when the waters were troubled," so only upon one patient at a time, and that the patient "who first stepped in after the troubling of the waters." But this only the more undeniably fixed its miraculous character. We have heard of many waters having a medicinal virtue; but what water was ever known to cure instantaneously a single disease? And who ever heard of any water curing all, even the most diverse diseases--"blind, halt, withered"--alike? Above all, who ever heard of such a thing being done "only at a certain season," and most singularly of all, doing it only to the first person who stepped in after the moving of the waters? Any of these peculiarities--much more all taken together--must have proclaimed the supernatural character of the cures wrought. (If the text here be genuine, there can be no doubt of the miracle, as there were multitudes living when this Gospel was published who, from their own knowledge of Jerusalem, could have exposed the falsehood of the Evangelist, if no such cure had been known there. The want of
John 5:4 and part of
John 5:3 in some good manuscripts, and the use of some unusual words in the passage, are more easily accounted for than the evidence in their favor if they were not originally in the text. Indeed
John 5:7 is unintelligible without
John 5:4. The internal evidence brought against it is merely the unlikelihood of such a miracle--a principle which will carry us a great deal farther if we allow it to weigh against positive evidence).
5 thirty and eight years--but not all that time at the pool. This was probably the most pitiable of all the cases, and therefore selected.
6 saw him lie, and knew, &c.--As He doubtless visited the spot just to perform this cure, so He knows where to find His patient, and the whole previous history of his case (
John 2:25).
Wilt thou be made whole?--Could anyone doubt that a sick man would like to be made whole, or that the patients came thither, and this man had returned again and again, just in hope of a cure? But our Lord asked the question. (1) To fasten attention upon Himself; (2) By making him detail his case to deepen in him the feeling of entire helplessness; (3) By so singular a question to beget in his desponding heart the hope of a cure. (Compare
Mark 10:51).
7 Sir, I have no man, &c.--Instead of saying he wished to be cured, he just tells with piteous simplicity how fruitless had been all his efforts to obtain it, and how helpless and all but hopeless he was. Yet not quite. For here he is at the pool, waiting on. It seemed of no use; nay, only tantalizing,
while I am coming, another steppeth down before me--the fruit was snatched from his lips. Yet he will not go away. He may get nothing by staying, he may drop into his grave ere he get into the pool; but by going from the appointed, divine way of healing, he can get nothing. Wait therefore he will, wait he does, and when Christ comes to heal him, lo! he is waiting his turn. What an attitude for a sinner at Mercy's gate! The man's hopes seemed low enough ere Christ came to him. He might have said, just before "Jesus passed by that way," "This is no use; I shall never get in; let me die at home." Then all had been lost. But he held on, and his perseverance was rewarded with a glorious cure. Probably some rays of hope darted into his heart as he told his tale before those Eyes whose glance measured his whole case. But the word of command consummates his preparation to receive the cure, and instantaneously works it.
8 Rise, take up thy bed, &c.--"Immediately" he did so. "He spake and it was done." The slinging of his portable couch over his shoulders was designed to show the perfection of the cure.
9 the same day was the sabbath--Beyond all doubt this was intentional, as in so many other healings, in order that when opposition arose on this account men might be compelled to listen to His claims and His teaching.
10 The Jews--that is, those in authority. (See on
John 1:19.)
it is not lawful to carry thy bed--a glorious testimony to the cure, as instantaneous and complete, from the lips of the most prejudiced! (And what a contrast does it, as all our Lord's miracles, present to the bungling miracles of the Church of Rome!) In ordinary circumstances, the rulers had the law on their side (
Neh 13:15;
Jer 17:21). But when the man referred them to "Him that had made him whole" (
John 5:11) as his authority, the argument was resistless. Yet they ingeniously parried the thrust, asking him, not who had "made him whole"--that would have condemned themselves and defeated their purpose--but who had bidden him "take up his bed and walk," in other words, who had dared to order a breach of the sabbath? It is time we were looking after Him--thus hoping to shake the man's faith in his Healer.
13 he that was healed wist not, &c.--That some one, with unparalleled generosity, tenderness and power, had done it, the man knew well enough: but as he had never heard of Him before, so he disappeared too quickly for any inquiries.
conveyed himself away--slipped out of the crowd that had gathered, to avoid both hasty popularity and precipitate hatred (
Matt 12:14-
Matt 12:19).
14 findeth him in the temple--saying, perhaps, "I will go into Thy house with burnt offerings, I will pay my vows which my lips have uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble" (
Ps 66:13-
Ps 66:14). Jesus, there Himself for His own ends, "findeth him there"--not all accidentally, be assured.
sin no more, &c.--a glimpse this of the reckless life he had probably led before his thirty-eight years' infirmity had come upon him, and which not improbably had brought on, in the just judgment of God, his chronic complaint. Fearful illustration this of "the severity of God," but glorious manifestation of our Lord's insight into "what was in man."
15 The man departed, and told, &c.--little thinking how unwelcome his grateful and eager testimony would be. "The darkness received not the light which was pouring its rays upon it" (
John 1:5,
John 1:11) [OLSHAUSEN].
16 because he had done these things on the sabbath day--What to these hypocritical religionists was the doing of the most glorious and beneficent miracles, compared with the atrocity of doing them on the sabbath day! Having given them this handle, on purpose to raise the first public controversy with them, and thus open a fitting opportunity of laying His claims before them, He rises at once to the whole height of them, in a statement which for grandeur and terseness exceeds almost anything that ever afterwards fell from Him, at least to His enemies.
17 My Father worketh hitherto and I work--The "I" is emphatic; "The creative and conservative activity of My Father has known no sabbath-cessation from the beginning until now, and that is the law of My working."
18 God was his Father--literally, "His own [or peculiar] Father," (as in
Rom 8:32). The addition is their own, but a very proper one.
making himself equal with God--rightly gathering this to be His meaning, not from the mere words "My Father," but from His claim of right to act as His Father did in the like high sphere, and by the same law of ceaseless activity in that sphere. And as, instead of instantly disclaiming any such meaning--as He must have done if it was false--He positively sets His seal to it in the following verses, merely explaining how consistent such claim was with the prerogatives of His Father, it is beyond all doubt that we have here an assumption of peculiar personal Sonship, or participation in the Father's essential nature.
19 the Son can do nothing of himself--that is, apart from and in rivalry of the Father, as they supposed. The meaning is, "The Son can have no separate interest or action from the Father."
for what things, &c.--On the contrary, "whatever the Father doeth that same doeth the Son,"
likewise--"in the like manner." What claim to absolute equality with the Father could exceed this: not only to do "the same things," but to do them as the Father does them?
20 Father loveth . . . and showeth him all, &c.--As love has no concealments, so it results from the perfect fellowship and mutual endearment of the Father and the Son (see on
John 1:1;
John 1:18), whose interests are one, even as their nature, that the Father communicates to the Son all His counsels, and what has been thus shown to the Son is by Him executed in His mediatorial character. "With the Father, doing is willing; it is only the Son who acts in Time" [ALFORD]. Three things here are clear: (1) The personal distinctions in the Godhead. (2) Unity of action among the Persons results from unity of nature. (3) Their oneness of interest is no unconscious or involuntary thing, but a thing of glorious consciousness, will, and love, of which the Persons themselves are the proper Objects.
show him greater things, &c.--referring to what He goes on to mention (
John 5:21-
John 5:31), comprised in two great words, LIFE and JUDGMENT, which STIER beautifully calls God's Regalia. Yet these, Christ says, the Father and He do in common.
21 raiseth the dead and quickeneth them--one act in two stages. This is His absolute prerogative as God.
so the Son quickeneth them--that is, raiseth up and quickeneth.
whom he will--not only doing the same divine act, but doing it as the result of His own will, even as the Father does it. This statement is of immense importance in relation to the miracles of Christ, distinguishing them from similar miracles of prophets and apostles, who as human instruments were employed to perform super-natural actions, while Christ did all as the Father's commissioned Servant indeed, but in the exercise of His own absolute right of action.
22 For the Father judgeth no man, &c.--rather, "For neither doth the Father judge any man," implying that the same "thing was meant in the former verse of the quickening of the dead"--both acts being done, not by the Father and the Son, as though twice done, but by the Father through the Son as His voluntary Agent.
all judgment--judgment in its most comprehensive sense, or as we should say, all administration.
23 honour the Son as . . . the Father--As he who believes that Christ in the foregoing verses has given a true account of His relation to the Father must of necessity hold Him entitled to the same honor as the Father, so He here adds that it was the Father's express intention in making over all judgment to the Son, that men should thus honor Him.
honoureth not the Father--does not do it in fact, whatever he may imagine, and will be held as not doing it by the Father Himself, who will accept no homage which is not accorded to His own Son.
24 believeth on him that sent me--that is, believeth in Him as having sent Me. I have spoken of the Son's right not only to heal the sick but to raise from the dead, and quicken whom He will: And now I say unto you, That life-giving operation has already passed upon all who receive My words as the Sent of the Father on the great errand of mercy.
hath everlasting life--immediately on his believing (compare
John 3:18;
1John 5:12-13).
is passed--"hath passed over"
from death unto life--What a transition! (Compare
1John 3:14).
25 The hour cometh--in its whole fulness, at Pentecost.
and now is--in its beginnings.
the dead--the spiritually dead, as is clear from
John 5:28. Here He rises from the calmer phrase "hearing his word" (
John 5:24), to the grander expression, "hearing the voice of the Son of God," to signify that as it finds men in a dead condition, so it carries with it a resurrection-power.
shall live--in the sense of
John 5:24.
26 given to the Son, &c.--Does this refer to the essential life of the Son before all time (
John 1:4) (as most of the Fathers, and OLSHAUSEN, STIER, ALFORD, &c., among the moderns), or to the purpose of God that this essential life should reside in the Person of the Incarnate Son, and be manifested thus to the world? [CALVIN, LUCKE, LUTHARDT, &c.] The question is as difficult as the subject is high. But as all that Christ says of His essential relation to the Father is intended to explain and exalt His mediatorial functions, so the one seems in our Lord's own mind and language mainly the starting-point of the other.
27 because he is the Son of man--This seems to confirm the last remark, that what Christ had properly in view was the indwelling of the Son's essential life in humanity as the great theater and medium of divine display, in both the great departments of His work--life-giving and judgment. The appointment of a Judge in our own nature is one of the most beautiful arrangements of divine wisdom in redemption.
28 Marvel not at this--this committal of all judgment to the Son of man.
for the hour is coming--He adds not in this case (as in
John 5:25), "and now is," because this was not to be till the close of the whole dispensation of mercy.
29 resurrection of life--that is, to life everlasting (
Matt 25:46).
of damnation--It would have been harsh to say "the resurrection of death," though that is meant, for sinners rise from death to death [BENGEL]. The resurrection of both classes is an exercise of sovereign authority; but in the one case it is an act of grace, in the other of justice. (Compare
Dan 12:2, from which the language is taken). How awfully grand are these unfoldings of His dignity and authority from the mouth of Christ Himself! And they are all in the third person; in what follows He resumes the first person.
30 of mine own self do nothing--that is, apart from the Father, or in any interest than My own. (See on
John 5:19).
as I hear--that is, "My judgments are all anticipated in the bosom of My Father, to which I have immediate access, and by Me only responded to and reflected. They cannot therefore err, as I live for one end only, to carry into effect the will of Him that sent Me."
31 If I . . . witness of myself--standing alone, and setting up any separate interest.
32 There is another--that is, the Father, as is plain from the connection. How brightly the distinction of the Persons shines out here!
and I know that the witness, &c.--"This is the Son's testimony to the Father's truth (see
John 7:28;
John 8:26,
John 8:55). It testifies to the full consciousness on the part of the Son, even in the days of His humiliation, of the righteousness of the Father" [ALFORD]. And thus He cheered His spirit under the cloud of human opposition which was already gathering over His head.
33 Ye sent unto John--(See
John 1:19, &c.).
receive not testimony . . . from man--that is, depend not on human testimony.
but . . . that ye might be saved--"I refer to him merely to aid your salvation."
35 He was a burning and a shining light--literally, "the burning and shining lamp" (or torch):--that is, "the great light of his day." Christ is never called by the humble word here applied to John--a light-bearer--studiously used to distinguish him from his Master, but ever the Light in the most absolute sense. (See on
John 1:6).
willing for a season--that is, till they saw that it pointed whither they were not prepared to go.
to rejoice in his light--There is a play of irony here, referring to the hollow delight with which his testimony tickled them.
36 I have greater witness--rather, "The witness which I have is greater."
the works . . . bear witness of me--not simply as miracles nor even as a miracle of mercy, but these miracles, as He did them, with a will and a power, a majesty and a grace manifestly His own.
37 the Father himself . . . hath borne witness of me--not referring, probably, to the voice of His baptism, but (as seems from what follows) to the testimony of the Old Testament Scripture [CALVIN, LUCKE, MEYER, LUTHARDT, &c.].
neither heard his voice, &c.--never recognized Him in this character. The words are "designedly mysterious, like many others which our Lord uttered" [STIER].
38 not his word abiding in you--passing now from the Witness to the testimony borne by Him in "the lively oracles" (
Acts 7:38): both were alike strangers to their breasts, as was evidenced by their rejecting Him to whom all that witness was borne.
39 Search the scriptures, &c.--"In the Scriptures ye find your charter of eternal life; go search them then, and you will find that I am the Great Burden of their testimony; yet ye will not come to Me for that life eternal which you profess to find there, and of which they tell you I am the appointed Dispenser." (Compare
Acts 17:11-
Acts 17:12). How touching and gracious are these last words! Observe here (1) The honor which Christ gives to the Scriptures, as a record which all have a right and are bound to search--the reverse of which the Church of Rome teaches; (2) The opposite extreme is, resting in the mere Book without the living Christ, to direct the soul to whom is its main use and chiefest glory.
41 I receive not honour from men--contrasting His own end with theirs, which was to obtain human applause.
42 not the love of God in you--which would inspire you with a single desire to know His mind and will, and yield yourselves to it, in spite of prejudice and regardless of consequences.
43 if another shall come, &c.--How strikingly has this been verified in the history of the Jews! "From the time of the true Christ to our time, sixty-four false Christs have been reckoned by whom they have been deceived" [BENGEL].
44 How can ye believe, &c.--(See on
John 5:40-
John 5:41). The "will not" of
John 5:40, and "cannot" here are just different features of the same awful state of the human heart.
45 Do not think I will accuse you to the Father--"My errand hither is not to collect evidence to condemn you at God's bar."
one that accuseth you, even Moses, &c.--"Alas! that will be too well done by another, and him the object of all your religious boastings--Moses," here put for "the Law," the basis of the Old Testament Scriptures.
46 he wrote of me--"an important testimony to the subject of the whole Pentateuch--'of Me'" [ALFORD].
47 If ye believe not--(See
Luke 16:31).
his writings . . . my words--a remarkable contrast, not absolutely exalting Old Testament Scripture above His own words, but pointing to the office of those venerable documents to prepare Christ's way, to the necessity universally felt for documentary testimony in revealed religion, and perhaps (as STIER adds) to the relation which the comparative "letter" of the Old Testament holds to the more flowing "words" of "spirit and life" which characterize the New Testament.
