Jesus Heals on the Sabbath Day and Defends His Act.

  24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life. And cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life. [Eternal life is a present gift, just as condemnation is a present condition ( John 3:18 ). To "hear" means in this case to receive and obey, so that eternal life is conditioned upon a knowledge of the revelation of the Father and Son, and a right use of that knowledge. Those who have learned of and obey Jesus have already escaped or avoided the judgment-- Romans 8:1 .]

  25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. [The "hath passed" of verse 24 and the "now is" of this verse show that Jesus is, thus far, primarily speaking of a present and hence a spiritual resurrection, or regeneration. Christianity, or the dispensation of regeneration, was to formally begin at Pentecost, but it was already present in a preliminary form in the teaching of Jesus, for those who hearkened to it were counted as already redeemed. Yet the spiritual condition of even the apostles was at that time such that the hour of grace is spoken of as more future than present--more "coming" than "at hand."]

  26 For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself [Not only an independent life, such as man does not possess ( Acts 2:27 Acts 2:28 ), but a life which is a source of life to others. This regenerating power completed Jesus' official status as judge, so that wherever he awarded life, he could at the same time bestow it];

  27 and he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. [We can see several reasons, [203] humanly speaking, why the humanity of Jesus should be made a ground for committing the judgment of the races of men to him: 1. Jesus having experienced our infirmities and temptations, we can feel sure of his sympathy ( Hebrews 4:15 Hebrews 4:16 ). 2. Jesus, partaking of the nature of both God and man, is, because of his unique nature, the only fit daysman or umpire between them ( Job 9:33 ). Possibly we may regard it as a reward of humility-- Philippians 2:8 Philippians 2:9 .]

  28 Marvel not at this [Jesus seems to here answer the surprised expression of their faces by enlarging his statements]: for the hour cometh, in the which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice,

  29 and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

[We have here the future, literal, and final resurrection ( Daniel 12:2 ); a scene of such stupendous grandeur as to overshadow all the marvelous in all that Christ shall have previously done.]

  29 and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

  30 I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. [Jesus here reasserts his dependence upon the Father, not as a bare repetition of his relationship to the Father, but for the purpose of developing his relationship to men as based on or growing out of this relationship to the Father. The Jews, as they listened to him, were conscious that he was even then judging and passing sentence of condemnation upon them. Jesus does not deny the correctness of this view, but shows that, because of his relationship or dependence upon the Father, they are getting perfect justice, for: 1. His judgment was free from all personal bias and selfish retaliation, and was, 2. Positively perfect, being wholly inspired by the Father's will.]

  31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

  32 It is another

[i. e., the Father; for similar reference, see John 8:50-54 ] that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. [These two verses form, as noted, a transition in the discourse. [204] In them Jesus passes from discussing himself and the divine and human phases of his nature and office to take up the evidences which attest him, first asserting that the truth of what he has said does not rest solely on his own veracity. There is here an indirect reference to that clause of the Jewish law which required two witnesses. See John 8:14-18 . But the saying is deeply spiritual. Since Jesus did nothing of himself, his very testimony was not his own, but was the Father's who sent him, and was therefore absolutely true in the consciousness of Jesus. If Jesus had testified independently of the Father--had it been possible--it would have been in the nature of the case contrary to that consensus of the divine will which forms the truth.]

  32 It is another

  33 Ye have sent unto John [this shows that Jesus was addressing the rulers-- John 1:19 ], and he hath borne witness unto the truth. [John had witnessed the truth concerning the Messiahship of Jesus. Some think that the pronoun "another" in verse 32 refers to John also, but by the present tense "witnesseth" of that verse, and the past tense "hath borne witness" of this verse, the ever-abiding testimony of the Father is contrasted with the finished testimony of John, who is now silenced by imprisonment.]

  34 But the witness which I receive is not from man: howbeit I say these things, that ye may be saved. [In the light of John 1:6 John 1:7 , it sounds strange to hear Jesus thus renounce the testimony of the Baptist. But the phrase, "is not from man," is the Hebrew negative, meaning not from man alone. Jesus therefore meant to accept it, as he in the next breath did that of Moses, as prophetic--as the testimony of the Father spoken through a human medium; but meant to reject it as a merely human testimony, such as it was in the view of these Jews who denied in their hearts that John was a prophet. This mission of Jesus was not to be proved by uninspired testimony, for uninspired man can not testify of God from lack of full and adequate knowledge ( Matthew 11:27 ; 16:17 ). And yet if the Jews were willing to accept such testimony, Jesus in kindness would permit it, that by any fair means they might believe and be saved.]

  35 He was the lamp that burneth and shineth; and ye were willing to rejoice for a [205] season in his light. [They were willing, like children, to play in John's light without stopping to seriously consider its meaning, but when he bore testimony to Christ they blasphemed him-- Luke 7:33 .]

  36 But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. [By "greater witness" Jesus means testimony which is more convincing. All divine testimony is of equal veracity, but some it is more obviously convincing. The less the testimony savors of humanity, and the more purely divine it appears, the more convincing it is ( 1 John 5:9 ). The term "works" is not to be confined to miracles, for the word "accomplish" indicates a wider meaning. The entire Messianic mission or redemptive work which ended with our Lord's words, "It is finished" ( John 17:4 ; 19:30 ), and which is indicated in this very discourse in verse 20, and outlined by referring to spiritual judgment and regeneration, should be included. Christ's transforming grace still witnesses to Jew and Gentile that the Father sent him, for it it manifests the love of God ( John 3:16 ). The Father did not send the Son to merely work miracles, but to redeem the world.]

  37 And the Father that sent me, he hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.

  38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he sent, him ye believe not.

[The testimony of the Father was given in three forms: 1. By direct or audible voice and the visible sending of the Spirit--as at Jesus' baptism. 2. By revelations, through the medium of prophets and angels gathered and preserved in the Old Testament Scriptures. 3. Through the Son and his works. Jesus here asserts that all testimony of the first kind had failed to reach the Jewish rulers; that the testimony of the second kind has been utterly lost upon them, for they failed to see its accordance with the testimony of the third kind which he was even then exhibiting to them, neither had it taught them to expect a personal Saviour.]

  38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he sent, him ye believe not.

  39 Ye [206] search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me;

  40 and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life.

["Hillel used to say, More law, more life. . . . He who has gotten himself words of law has gotten himself the life of the world to come" (Talmud). In their zeal for the Scriptures the Jews had counted every letter of them, expecting to find life in the laws and precepts, but failed to find Him of whom the Scriptures spoke in figure, type and prophecy. In their reverence for the Book they failed to see that it was a mere means intended to acquaint them with him through whom life was to come. Hence, as Canon Cook suggests, there is deep pathos in the co-ordination "and--and." The verses give us three points worthy of deepest reflection: 1. Protestantism may love the Book and show a martyr's loyalty to it, and yet fail utterly to render any acceptable love or loyalty toward the Being revealed in the Book. 2. Criticism, both higher and lower, may submit every text to microscopic investigation, and yet be as blind as the ancient Pharisees to its true meaning. It is profoundly true that the things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned ( 1 Corinthians 2:14 ), and that pride of literary culture, and the self-worship of intellectualism tend to spiritual blindness. It seems to come upon such a visitation from God, as in the case of Elymas ( Matthew 11:25 ; :xv. 14 ; Luke 8:10 ; Ephesians 4:17 Ephesians 4:18 ; Isaiah 5:21 ). 3. Though free will is meant to be man's crowning glory, yet it may result in his shame and ruin.]

  40 and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life.

  41 I receive not glory from men. [Jesus here shows that his rebuke of their disbelief does not spring from personal pique or disappointed ambition. He came seeking faith that he might save, not honor that he might be glorified, and honor paid to him is by him transferred to God ( Philippians 2:10 Philippians 2:11 ), just as honor paid to the true Christian is transferred to Christ.]

  42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves. [He speaks as the Searcher of hearts ( John 1:47-50 ; John 2:24 John 2:25 ). Knowing them absolutely, he found them to be self-worshipers, devoid [207] of that love Godward which begets belief, and lacking in their natures that which would enable them to understand him and his spirit, no matter what evidence was submitted to them.]

  43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. [Some think that this is spoken primarily of a pre-eminently great antichrist who is yet to come and deceive many of the Jews, and who, as Stier thinks, shall be such an incarnation of Satan as Jesus was of God ( Revelation 13:1-9 ). But they have already received many false christs with joy. According to Schudt, as quoted by Bengel, there have been sixty-four antichrists who have misled the Jews. Among them Bar Cocheba led 24,000 to ruin, including Akiba, the President of the Sanhedrim. False christs come in their own name--for their own honor--and make no war on bosom sins, but upon earthly enemies; but Jesus came not to manifest himself, but his Father.]

  44 How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not? [The question was as to their believing Jesus to be the Messiah. Expecting one who would bring great honor to themselves by his triumphs over his foes, and seeing nothing of this kind to be expected from Jesus, they could not believe him to be the Messiah.]

  45 Think not that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope. [Jesus here assumes that the Jews gave enough credence to his words to fear that he might hereafter appear as their accuser. But Jesus designs to appear rather as Advocate than as Prosecutor ( 1 John 2:1 ). It was their fault that he was not their Advocate.]

  46 For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me.

  47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

[In these verses Jesus explicitly endorses the Mosaic authorship and authenticity of the Pentateuch, and sets forth one purpose for which Moses wrote it. Jesus was the essential subject of the law and prophets ( Luke 24:27 Luke 24:44-46 Luke 24:27, 44-46 [208] Rom. xvi. 25, 26 ). The emphasis is on "his writings" and "my words." They professed to reverence Moses and to receive his writings, while they openly despised Jesus and repudiated his words as fast as he spoke them. The phrase "wrote concerning me" is not to be restricted to Deuteronomy 18:15-18 . Moses wrote symbolically of Jesus through his entire work, as Bengel tersely puts it, "Everywhere!" The Epistle to the Hebrews is a partial elaboration of the Christology of Moses. But there is doubtless a depth of meaning in the Pentateuch which has never yet been fully fathomed, for there is a fullness in Scripture greatly exceeding the popular conception. Moreover, the Old and New Testaments are so linked together that to reject one is eventually to reject the other, or to read it with veiled eyes-- 2 Corinthians 3:15 .]

  47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?