John 5:31

If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. IF I BEAR WITNESS OF MYSELF, [ peri (G4012)] - 'concerning Myself;' that is, in the sense already explained-standing alone, and setting up a separate interest of my own. MY WITNESS IS NOT TRUE....

31._If I testify concerning myself. _He does not here take any thing away from the credit due to his testimony, which he elsewhere asserts in strong terms, but he speaks by way of concession; for Christ, having been in other respects most abundantly supported, consents that they should not believe his word. “If my testimony concerning myself,” says he, “is suspected by you according to the ordinary custom of men, let it go for nothing.” Now we know that what any man asserts about himself is not reckoned to be true and authentic, although in other respects he speak truth, because no man is a competent witness in his own cause. Though it would be unjust to reduce the Son of God to this rank, yet he prefers to surrender his right, that he may convince his enemies by the authority of God....

30-38 Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice of God, accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost, thus made effectual to the conversion of sinners, still proclaims that this is the beloved Son, in whom the Father is well pleased. But when the hearts of men are full of pride, ambition, and the love of the world, there is no room for the word of God to abide in them....

Verse 31. _IF I BEAR WITNESS_] If I had no proof to bring of my being the Messiah, and equal to God, common sense would direct you to reject my testimony; but the mighty power of God, by which I work my miracles, sufficiently attests that my pretensions are well founded. Bishop Pearce gives a different turn to this verse, by translating it interrogatively, thus: "_If I_ only _bear witness of_ _myself, is not my witness true_? i.e. is it, on that account, not true? In John 8:14, he says, _Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true_. And in John 8:18, he says, _I am one that bear witness of myself_....

IF I BEAR WITNESS OF MYSELF - If I have no other evidence than my own testimony about myself. MY WITNESS - My testimony; my evidence. The proof would not be decisive. IS NOT TRUE - The word “true,” here, means worthy of belief, or established by suitable evidence. See Matthew 22:16; “We Know that thou art true” - that is, worthy of confidence, or that thou hast been truly sent from God, Luke 20:21; John 8:13, John 8:17. The law did not admit a man to testify in his own case, but required two witnesses,...

EXPOSITION Here commences the second division of the Gospel (John 5:1) II. THE CONFLICT WITH THE CHOSEN PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM, GALILEE, AND JERUSALEM, TO THE DEATH SENTENCE RECORDED BY THE SANHEDRIN. JOHN 5:1 1. _Christ proved, by signs and wonders and testimonies, to be Source of life._ JOHN 5:1 (1)

IF I BEAR WITNESS OF MYSELF,.... Which was not allowed any man to do; nor indeed is it proper that a man should be a witness in his own cause: and, according to the Jewish canons, a man might not be a witness for his wife, because she was reckoned as himself. "An husband is not to be believed in bearing witness for his wife, that had been carried captive, that she is not defiled, שאין אדם מעיד לעצמו, "for no man witness of himself" k.'' So likewise they say l, "a city that is subdued by an army, all the priestesses (or priests' daughters) that are found in it are rejected (from the priesthood, as defiled); but if they have witnesses, whether a servant, or an handmaid, lo, they are to be believed; but no man is to be believed for himself: says R. Zechariah ben Hakatzah, by this habitation (swearing by the temple) her hand was not removed from my hand, from the time the Gentiles entered...

John 5:24. _Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life,_ If we truly believe the word of Christ, and trust in him who sent his Son into the world, we have at this moment everlasting life. John 5:24. _And shalt not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life._ What a grand verse this is! It is worthy to be written in letters of gold at every street corner; would that we all knew the fullness of its meaning by heartfelt experience! John 5:25. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the

WITNESS Compare (John 8:14). In (John 5:31). Our Lord, defending His Messianic claims before Jews who denied those claims, accepts the biblical rule of evidence, which required "two witnesses"; (John 8:17); (Numbers 35:30); (Deuteronomy 17:6). A paraphrase of verse (John 5:31) would be: "If I bear witness of myself ye will say my witness is not true." Compare (John 8:14)....

CHAPTER 5 _ 1. The Healing of the Impotent Man. (John 5:1 .)_ 2. The Opposition of the Jews. (John 5:10 .) 3. His Unity with the Father. (John 5:19 .) 4. The Present Hour. Believers Delivered from Death and Judgment. (John 5:24 .) 5. The Future Hour. His Power to Raise the Dead. (John 5:26 .) 6. Witness Concerning Himself. (John 5:30 .) 7. The Witness of John. (John 5:33