John 5:30-32

JESUS-' OWN WITNESS

Text 5:30-32

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.

31

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

32

It is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

Queries

a.

What makes Jesus-' judgment righteous?

b.

Why would Jesus-' witness of Himself not be true?

Paraphrase

I am not able to act strictly from My Own will, but as I hear directly from the Father, so I decide and act, because I have no desire to please Myself; My only aim is to act according to the will of the Father Who sent Me. So if I testify to Myself and My Own glory, apart from the Father, then My testimony is untrue. There is Another Who is testifying concerning Me, and I know that His testimony is true.

Summary

Jesus and the Father are absolutely One, and thus Jesus-' judgment is righteous. He is therefore bound to testify to His own deity, or be untrue.

Comment

Jesus, in John 5:30, re-states the fact of His oneness with the Father, as He had previously declared it in John 5:19. The reason His judgment is righteous (just, infallible, perfect) is that He sees what the Father does, and the Father shows Him all things. As Wescott points out, Jesus-' judgment is absolutely just because He has no regard for His own will in any judgment, but He abides altogether within the will of the Father. Human judges often do not know how to judge justly. They may at times seek their own will or let their emotions rule instead of that which is just and right. Not so with the Son. He is omniscient.

There are a number of interpretations for John 5:31: (a) The sentence should be interrogatively punctuated. If I bear witness concerning Myself, My witness is not true? (b) If I should testify to My Own deity without other witnesses, My testimony would not be according to Mosaic law, therefore, I adduce the following witnesses. (the Father, John the Baptist, the Scriptures, etc.), (c) If I bear witness to Myself, My witness is not true in your estimation.

It is more in harmony with the context, however, to assume that Jesus is making another claim to Oneness with the Fatherin a negative sense. If I should testify to Myself as doing these works independently of God I would be a liar, for I can of Myself do nothing, etc.. The Jews had given indication that they expected Him to disclaim any equality with God (cf. John 5:17-18), but this He could not do and remain true!

John 5:31; John 8:14 have been ridiculed for years by unthinking critics as contradictions in the Bible. The critics, as usual, take Jesus-' words out of context and interpret them, having already decided beforehand what He says. A careful study of the two passages in their respective contexts will show that on both occasions He affirmed exactly the same thing from opposite angles.

John 5:31

My witness is untrue if given independently of God.

John 8:14

My witness to Myself is true because I and the
Father are One in knowledge and will.

In John 5:32 Jesus is expressing His confidence in the witness of Another, This other One is even His Father, God. Jesus briefly introduces the Father as His witness here, and later (John 5:36-37) elucidates. Jesus will rest His case upon the testimony of the Father, which the Father is continuing to witness through signs and wonders. When the Father bears witness to Jesus-' deity, there can be no questionone can only accept the testimony, or reject it and judge oneself.

Quiz

1.

Why is Jesus-' judgment absolutely just?

2.

How should John 5:31 be interpreted?

3.

Does John 5:31 contradict John 8:14? Explain.

4.

What is the significance of John 5:32?