John 5:37

37 The Father who sent me, confirmed me. And you missed it. You never heard his voice, you never saw his appearance.

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 John was a torch, blazing and bright, and you were glad enough to dance for an hour or so in his bright light.
36 But the witness that really confirms me far exceeds John's witness. It's the work the Father gave me to complete. These very tasks, as I go about completing them, confirm that the Father, in fact, sent me.
37 The Father who sent me, confirmed me. And you missed it. You never heard his voice, you never saw his appearance.
38 There is nothing left in your memory of his Message because you do not take his Messenger seriously.
39 "You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.