Johannes 5:37

37 Und der Vater, der mich gesandt hat, er selbst hat Zeugnis von mir gegeben. Ihr habt weder jemals seine Stimme gehört, noch seine Gestalt gesehen,

Johannes 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.

Johannes 5:37 In-Context

35 Jener war die brennende und scheinende Lampe; ihr aber wolltet für eine Zeit in seinem Lichte fröhlich sein.

36 Ich aber habe das Zeugnis, das größer ist als das des Johannes; denn die Werke, welche der Vater mir gegeben hat, auf daß ich sie vollbringe, die Werke selbst, die ich tue, zeugen von mir, daß der Vater mich gesandt hat.

37 Und der Vater, der mich gesandt hat, er selbst hat Zeugnis von mir gegeben. Ihr habt weder jemals seine Stimme gehört, noch seine Gestalt gesehen,

38 und sein Wort habt ihr nicht bleibend in euch; denn welchen er gesandt hat, diesem glaubet ihr nicht.

39 Ihr erforschet die Schriften, denn ihr meinet, in ihnen ewiges Leben zu haben, und sie sind es, die von mir zeugen;