John 5:38

38 And you have not kept his word in your hearts, because you have not faith in him whom he has sent.

John 5:38 Meaning and Commentary

John 5:38

And ye have not his word abiding in you
Which some understand of Christ himself, the Logos, or word: who, though he was now with them, being made flesh, and dwelling among them, yet would not long continue with them: though rather this designs the written word, or the Scriptures of truth; and especially that part of them, which contains prophecies concerning the Messiah, which did not dwell in them richly, nor they dwell in their meditation on them, as was requisite. Or rather, it may intend that word of God expressed in the testimony he bore to the sonship of Christ at his baptism, by a voice from heaven, which made no lasting impression upon the minds and hearts of the Jews that heard it; as appears by what follows:

for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not;
meaning himself; for if they had had either a due regard to the sacred oracles, or to that voice from heaven at his baptism, they would have received and embraced him as the Messiah, and sent of God, and not have disbelieved and rejected him, as now they did.

John 5:38 In-Context

36 But the witness which I have is greater than that of John: the work which the Father has given me to do, the very work which I am now doing, is a witness that the Father has sent me.
37 And the Father himself who sent me has given witness about me. Not one of you has ever given ear to his voice; his form you have not seen.
38 And you have not kept his word in your hearts, because you have not faith in him whom he has sent.
39 You make search in the holy Writings, in the belief that through them you get eternal life; and it is those Writings which give witness about me.
40 And still you have no desire to come to me so that you may have life.
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