John 5:37

37 And the Father who sent me, that one has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form.

John 5:37 Meaning and Commentary

John 5:37

And the Father himself, which hath sent me
Not only the works he gave him to do, and which he did, but he himself in person:

hath borne witness of me;
not only in the writings of Moses, and the prophecies of the Old Testament, but by an audible articulate voice from heaven, at the time of Christ's baptism, ( Matthew 3:17 ) ; which was a full testimony of the sonship of Christ, and of the Father's well pleasure in him; and which was repeated at his transfiguration on the mount, ( Matthew 17:5 ) ; and the sonship of Christ is the grand thing which the three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, testify of, ( 1 John 5:7 ) ;

ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape;
for the voices that were heard, and the forms that were seen under the Old Testament dispensation, from the first of this kind in Eden's garden, to the incarnation of Christ, which are ascribed to God, or to a divine person, were either by the ministry of angels, or they were voices uttered by the Son of God, or forms assumed by him, who often appeared in an human form, as a prelude of his incarnation; so that it was unusual, and wonderful, and remarkable, that the Father should bear a testimony to the sonship of Christ by a voice from heaven; and which therefore ought to be attended to, and received as a sufficient and valid testimony.

John 5:37 In-Context

35 That one was the lamp [which was] burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice for an hour in his light.
36 "But I have a testimony greater than John's, for the works which the Father has given to me that I should complete them--the very works which I am doing--[these] testify about me, that the Father has sent me.
37 And the Father who sent me, that one has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form.
38 And you do not have his word residing in yourselves, because the one whom that one sent, in this one you do not believe.
39 You search the scriptures because you think that you have eternal life in them, and it is these that testify about me.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.