30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me. 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has Himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom He has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
Today is part two if you like, of the teaching Jesus gave to the Pharisees after healing the lame man on the Sabbath in chapter 5. Jesus continues His claims of His deity by providing unique witnesses to back up His claims.
In verse 30 He says, “I can do nothing on my own,” but that is not the entire verse, which has led to some dreadful and heretical twisting of Jesus’ words here.
When He says He can do nothing on His own, He is speaking about His voluntary self-limitation when He took on human form, and He explains this at the end of verse 30. “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me.”
It is a mistake to assume that when Jesus says He can do nothing on His own, it meant He had no power to do anything by Himself. The opposite is true. He is so closely united with God the Father that He could not act independent of God. He acted in perfect obedience to the Father and always in complete fellowship and harmony with Him.
This verse has been badly mangled by many false teachers to support their claim that Jesus Christ was not God. They say that because, by His own admission, He could not do anything on His own, He was just a man, but this verse proves the exact opposite.
As rebellious sinners, we can do whatever we want, whether it’s in line with God’s will or not. More often than not, our bad choices cause all kinds of pain and misery, but we still have the free will to choose good or evil. However, because of who He was, Jesus could not “follow His own heart” and do whatever He wanted. This was not so much a physical impossibility, but a moral impossibility. He had the physical power to do whatever He wanted, but He could not do anything that was wrong, because it would have been wrong for Him to do anything contrary to the will of God the Father.
As Jesus lived in perfect harmony with the Father, He lived out the perfect will, perfect holiness and perfect righteousness of God, and when He says His judgment is just, He is not talking about deciding on legal matters or even the final judgment which is to come, but rather the perfect discernment of knowing what to do and say.
His will was to please the Father and to do His will. These means His judgment or decisions were not based on what would benefit Him most, something which has a huge influence on most of the choices and decisions we make on a daily basis. Our opinions and choices are based what we want to do and what we want to believe. But not so with Jesus, because He was God incarnate.
He now continues for the rest of John 5 by providing evidence to support the claims He has previously made about Himself, as He gives four answers to the unasked question that was without doubt in the minds of His listeners: “Who will give evidence of who you are?”
The words witness and testimony are important in the gospel of John, and here especially. In just 10 of the verses we’re looking at today, (31-40) they appear 10 times. The reason that Jesus goes into such detail is because according to Jewish law one person’s testimony was not allowed in court. You had to have witnesses to back up whatever you were saying, or claimed to have seen.
Jesus then goes on to provide 4 unique witnesses, and we’ll look at each one. Firstly, John the Baptist, His own works, the Father Himself, and the Scriptures - the writings of Moses.
The background to all of this and why Jesus took this approach is in the Old Testament law, where witnesses were required in order to establish the truth whenever there was some kind of dispute. Deuteronomy 17:6 says, “On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.” And 19:15, “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offence that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.”
We must remember that as God, Jesus was the author of the law in the first place, and He was merely referring to His perfect law before backing up His claims about Himself. This helps to explain His statement in verse 31. “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.” Here He was applying His rule that the witness of a single person was not considered sufficient evidence in a court of law. As God, He wrote the law, but in His humanity, He subjected Himself to the very law He had written. This also helps us to understand what He said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
And so in verses 32-35 Jesus “calls” His first witness: John the Baptist. “There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.”
When John started preaching, the first thing the authorities did was to send a delegation to ask who he was , and who he was talking about. “This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (John 1:19-23)
John then went on to identify Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and in John 5, Jesus affirms the testimony, or the witness of John. We mustn’t miss the irony here. Jesus initially referred to the enthusiasm with which John the Baptist was received, but now He criticised them for the way their enthusiasm had faded so badly.
At first, the Jews had flocked to John the Baptist. He was something of a novelty, and for a while they accepted him as a popular religious teacher. Depending on how you interpret the timeline of the gospel accounts, by the time we arrive in John 5, John the Baptist was either in prison, or possibly even dead by now, having been beheaded on the orders of Herod. The challenge to the Pharisees from Jesus was this: Why, after accepting John so warmly at first, would they not accept the One of whom John preached? They loved John’s message, but there was no repentance, and consequently, no salvation.
We mustn’t miss the warning here. Sadly, the history of the Church is littered with stories of human beings who were popular for a time who either fell into sin, or they were superseded by the next best fad or gimmick. Our faith is not to be based on our favourite YouTube preachers or Christian authors. There are some faithful and Godly Bible teachers out there, and we are grateful to God for these people. With the benefit of modern technology we have access to some sound, Biblical teaching. However, our faith is not to be built on these men, but on the One they preach about: Jesus Christ.
In John 5 Jesus reprimands those in His audience who had enjoyed John’s preaching and had responded to it, but like the seed that fell on rocky ground in the parable of the sower, their response was short lived and superficial. Jesus had come and fulfilled John’s message, but they preferred the message, rather than the One it proclaimed.
The second witness or testimony that Jesus points to is His works. Verse 36: “The testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.”
Remember, the point of His signs and wonders were to point to Himself and who He is. Jesus did not perform miracles in order to entertain the crowds, but to validate His claim as God the Son.
John’s gospel lists seven signs with this common purpose. So far on our journey through John we have looked at the first three: the turning of water into wine, the healing of the royal official’s son and the healing of the paralysed man on the Sabbath. During the next two weeks we will look at the next two signs. The purpose of all of these signs is to validate the authenticity of Jesus.
The miracles of Jesus were a testimony to His deity and Messiahship. We’ve referred to 20:30-31 often in the past weeks. “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
Miracles in themselves are not proof of deity. In the Bible are accounts of men who were given the power to perform miracles. God even gave this power to pagans for a while. Probably the best example is in Exodus 7:8-12. “Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘When Pharaoh says to you, “Prove yourselves by working a miracle,” then you shall say to Aaron, “Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.”
There are many other accounts of people, both good and evil, who were given temporary powers to perform miracles, but Jesus was different. Firstly, He had the power in Himself to do these mighty works, whereas others were given the power. Others have performed miracles, but they could not give that power to perform miracles to others. Jesus though, not only performed miracles Himself, but He gave His apostles the authority to do the same, as we see in the book of Acts.
Verse 36 again: “The testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.”
Jesus then moves on to the third testimony to validate His claims in verses 37 and 38.
“The Father who sent me has Himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen, and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom He has sent.”
These words would have cut them right to the heart. Jesus says they had neither heard the voice of God, nor seen Him. This was because they did not have His word abiding in them, and word in the original Greek is logos. This points us back to the very first verse of John’s gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
If you want to see and know God, you must come to Christ. We know the words of John 14:6 so well. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The next few verses expand on this truth. “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to Him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” (John 14:7-11)
The problem for the Pharisees was that despite all their religious posturing, they had never seen God because they did not believe in the One whom God sent. God the Father does not have a human form that we can see or touch. He is Spirit and therefore He is invisible, but He has revealed Himself to us in the person of His Son.
If you believe in Christ, you have seen and heard God. Those who deny the deity of Christ are living in darkness, and they have never seen God, nor have they heard Him.
In verses 39-40 Jesus presents his fourth testimony. “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” Here again, Jesus launches a scathing attack on the Pharisees - those who should know better.
God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. I’ve quoted Justin Peters a few times on this subject. “If you want to know what God is saying, read your Bible. If you want to hear the voice of God audibly, read it aloud.”
The Jews had the Old Testament Scriptures, but they refused to allow God to speak to them through His Word. Their hearts were hardened, and they simply ignored the truth. Basically what Jesus was saying was, “You call yourselves serious Bible students and you study the Old Testament carefully in order to gain eternal life, yet you can’t see how the Scriptures prophesied my coming and, therefore, you refuse the life that I bring.”
The theologian RC Sproul wrote, “The searching of those who refuse to find Christ in the Scriptures is futile because it lacks the enlightenment of the Spirit, and this enlightenment is necessary if one is to believe in the Messiah.”
Jesus Christ is the main theme and central character of Scripture - both the Old and New Testaments. St Augustine wrote some 1500 years ago, “The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.”
The main reason people will not accept Christ as Saviour is not because the Bible is too complicated or that the Gospel message cannot be understood. The real fault is the human heart. As sinners we love our sins more than we love Christ, and we simply do not want to give up our wicked ways. The absolute worst advice you could ever give to a young person as they set off into the big wide world after leaving school is this: “Just follow your heart, and make your dreams come true.”
It’s when we do follow our hearts that we head down a path of guaranteed destruction. We don’t need our dreams to come true. We need a Saviour. We need Jesus Christ.
In the closing verses of John 5 Jesus condemns those who accuse Him.
The people He was speaking to had studied the Scriptures for thousands of years, but they never understood them. They searched for the key to life, and that life was in Christ, but they never made the connection.
In verse 42 Jesus said, “I know that you do not have the love of God within you.” Here was another slap in the face to those who opposed Jesus. He is talking here not about love from God but love for God. We know God loves us. John 3:16 tells us that, but His love is demonstrated to us in Christ, and through the cross. Have a look at Romans 5:8. “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It is all about what God has done for us through His Son, and since He loves us, we are to return that love, but you cannot love God and hate or deny Jesus at the same time. Those who reject Jesus show their lack of love for God.
Jesus continues in verse 43. “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.” Jesus came in the Father’s name, revealing God to the people, but they rejected Him. And as we look back through history, we see a multitude of people who came in their own name, but because their ideas and philosophies suited what the people wanted to hear, they were accepted. This is what happens when people reject the truth and receive a lie. They reject Christianity and welcome the cults.
There are many cults in our day that wear a thin veneer of Christianity, and they are so dangerous. They throw in enough verses from the Bible to make themselves appear Christian and super-spiritual, but they are false churches led by wolves in sheep’s clothing, and their heresies are leading the people who follow them to destruction.
The apostle Paul warns us against these people when he wrote to Timothy, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)
At the end of chapter 5 Jesus goes back to the original reason for this whole dispute: healing on the Sabbath and their accusation that He was breaking the law of Moses.
“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:45–47)
This question of the Mosaic Law begins and ends the chapter. The Jews were proud of their tradition, their knowledge of Scripture, and certainly proud of Moses. But according to Jesus, they really did not believe Moses. If they had, they would have believed and accepted Him, because It was He that Moses was writing about.
Jesus’ testimony in John 5 was built on the witness of John the Baptist, the signs He performed, the Word of the Father, and the writings of Scripture which pointed to Him.
Just before we close, I want us to consider a concept we often hear these days: sharing your testimony. Whenever so-and-so “shares their testimony” we almost always hear about their own journey to faith. Now, absolutely, there are times when sharing with others what God has done in your life is appropriate. It is, after all, the most authentic story you know, but I think we tend to place too much emphasis on our own story at times.
After Paul’s dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, there are only two records of him sharing those events, in chapter 22 and 26. Paul’s passion for the rest of his life was to proclaim Christ and Him crucified, as he wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2. “I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Paul preached the Gospel of Christ. That was his testimony.
The same John who wrote this gospel we are working our way through wrote later, “This is the testimony of God that He has borne concerning His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:9-12)
Homegroup Study Notes
Read John 5:30-47
Discuss Jesus’ statement in verse 30.
What did He mean, and what are the dangers of misinterpreting His words?
From verse 32 to 40, Jesus presents 4 witnesses or testimonies to validate His claims that He is God incarnate:
- John the Baptist’s witness,
- His signs or miracles,
- the Word of God,
- the ancient writings of Moses. (see also 45-47)
How do they help us to understand Jesus today?
What does Jesus mean in verse 42?
Read 2 Timothy 4:1-4
How does this passage help us to understand what Jesus says in John 5:43-44?
How easy is it to be led astray by some popular, yet false teachers in our day, and how do we protect ourselves from their deceptive teaching?