John 5:31Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Who would not be troubled at once, hearing Christ’s words: “If I bear witness about Myself, My witness is not true”?

We see that He often bore witness about Himself. Speaking with the Samaritan woman, He said, “I Who speak to you am He” (Jn 4:26).

To the blind man also He said, “He is speaking with you” (Jn 9:37). He rebuked the Jews: “You say, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (Jn 10:36).

He does this in many other places. If all this is untrue, what hope of salvation remains for us?

Where shall we find truth, if Truth Himself says, “My witness is not true”?

This is not the only apparent contradiction here. There is another no smaller than it. Later He says, “Even if I bear witness about Myself, My witness is true” (Jn 8:14).

What then, you say, are we to accept? Which of these two sayings are we to regard as untrue?

If we accept these words simply as they are spoken, without attending to the person, the reason, or anything else, then both will be false.

If His witness is not true at all, then these very words are not true, not only the latter, but also the former.

What then do these sayings mean? We need great attentiveness, or rather the grace of God, so that we do not stop at the words alone.

Heretics go astray precisely because they do not attend either to the speaker’s purpose or to the character of the hearers.

If we do not examine this, and also the other circumstances, such as time, place, and the disposition of the hearer, many absurdities may follow.

What, then, do Christ’s words mean? The Jews were intending to object to Him: “You bear witness about Yourself; Your witness is not true” (Jn 8:13).

Anticipating them, He said this, as though saying: You will surely say to Me, “We do not believe You, because among men no one who bears witness about himself ever deserves belief.”

Therefore the expression, “My witness is not true,” must be understood not simply, but in adaptation to the understanding of the Jews. That is, it is not true for you.

Thus He said these words not contrary to His own dignity, but in adaptation to their opinion.

When He says, “My witness is not true,” He exposes their thoughts and the objection they intended to make against Him.

When He says, “Even if I bear witness about Myself, My witness is true,” He shows the reality of the matter itself. As God, He must be regarded as worthy of belief even when He speaks about Himself.

Before this He had spoken about the resurrection of the dead and about judgment. He said that one who believes in Him is not subject to judgment, but passes into life.

He said that He would one day sit in judgment to require an account from all, and that He has one authority and power with the Father.

Now, intending to confirm all this again in another way, He necessarily sets forth their objection beforehand.

I said, He declares, that “as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom He wills.”

I said that “the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.”

I said, “that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father.”

I said that “he who hears My word and believes has passed from death into life.”

I said that “the voice of the Son of God” will raise the dead, some now, and others later in time.

I said that I shall require from all an account for sins, that I shall judge righteously, and that I shall reward those who do good.

Since all this had been said, and all of it is very important, no clear proof had yet been given to the Jews. It had only been said in a veiled way.

Therefore, intending to hasten toward the explanation of what had been said, He first presents their objection.

He speaks as though saying, though not in exactly these words: perhaps you will say, “You are the one saying all this. But You are a witness who does not deserve belief when You testify about Yourself.”

In this way He strikes down their contentiousness from the very beginning. He sets before them what they were intending to say, thereby showing that He knows even their secret thoughts.

Having given by this a first proof of His power, after the objection He presents other clear and irrefutable proofs.

He brings forward three witnesses to the truth of His words: the works He had performed, the testimony of the Father, and the preaching of John.

Therefore He says emphatically: "I do not bear witness to Myself. In that case, according to your opinion, I would not be credible. But there is another who bears witness to Me: John."

But when He says, "Even if I bear witness to Myself, My witness is true," He speaks by way of concession.

Yielding to the thought of the Jews, He says, "Let it be so, that I bear witness to Myself. Yet even if I bear witness to Myself, My witness is true.

For I, being God, am worthy of belief." Therefore the first statement is emphatic: it is not I who bear witness, but the Forerunner.

The second is by contrast, or by concession: "Even if I bear witness, My witness is true."

Instead, we always clothe ourselves, even quite falsely, with qualities by which each man thinks he appears good and honorable.

Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ ascribed righteous judgment to Himself. He clearly declared that He could do nothing of Himself, but in all His actions set the Father’s will as the rule.

In saying this, He Himself appeared as witness concerning Himself, though He was true. Yet the ignorant Pharisees, through their evil cunning, did not know that He is God by nature.

Therefore, because of what they were about to say, He necessarily comes forward first and says it beforehand.

You will undoubtedly say, following the custom of many and not avoiding the folly proper to the Jews: “You bear witness about Yourself; Your witness is not true” (Jn 8:13).

But against this, He says, hear in turn: I still endure your blasphemous words. I am not at all angered by the words you pour forth from the ignorance so dear to you.

I will grant, hypothetically, that even this is well said by you. Let it be so. You reject My voice. Therefore, “There is Another Who bears witness about Me.”

By this He points to God and the Father Who is in heaven, Who has already borne witness in many ways to the truly divine essence of His Son.

Of the Father He says, “I know that the witness which He bears is true.” By this He shows that His own judgment is fully trustworthy and true.

He does this so that, by seeming to admit that speaking about Himself is false, He may not again give any occasion for slander and attack to those always thinking otherwise.

After yielding to the obligation and custom of not trusting the truth of one’s own praises and commendations, He necessarily returns again, as God, to the dignity proper to Him.

He says that He knows the Father’s “witness” to be “true.” By this He teaches, speaking as it were thus: Being true God, I know Myself.

The Father will say nothing gratuitously about Me, as a favor. I am by nature what He, the Truthful One, would testify Me to be.

Thus in that saying there was an agreement, as it were, admitted by condescension, and a hypothetical rather than actual meaning.

But in the words that He knows the Father’s witness to be true, there is an indication of the trustworthiness proper to God.

Again it should be noted that the Father, according to His hypostasis, is another, distinct from the Son. He is not, as some ignorant heretics thought, a Son-Father (υἱοπάτωρ).

The blessed Forerunner also testified to the truth concerning the Savior, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).

But if the Savior says that He does not wish to receive witness from man, and that Another bears witness about Him, who is this whose testimony is greater than John’s words?

Certainly He is speaking of the Father, Who said to John, “He upon Whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, this is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (Jn 1:33).

Then the voice of the Father came from above, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17).

Therefore, when God and the Father names Him Son and confirms the truth of such testimony about Him, who will call Him a creature?

Will such a person not plainly contradict the knowledge the Almighty has concerning His own Offspring? And how could such a man be considered prudent at all?

Let us grant many other matters pertaining to faith. Yet how shall we now receive what He recently witnessed about Himself?

He witnessed that He is the Son of God, equal to Him in nature, power, and will. He also witnessed that He is Creator, Giver of life, Judge, and other such things.

What, then, must be said about this?

When Jesus Christ witnessed these things about Himself, He knew that the Jews would contradict Him and say, "If You bear witness about Yourself, Your witness is not true.

For no one who bears witness about himself deserves belief among men, because of suspicion of self-love."

Therefore the Lord forestalled them and said to them what they were going to say to Him: "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true," as it seems to you.

Then He brings forward witnesses, condescending even in this to their weakness, and by a multitude of witnesses He compels them to silence.

Thus Jesus Christ said, "My witness is not true," not because He affirmed this, but because the Jews could later say this to Him.

That this is truly so is clear from what follows. Later, when Jesus Christ said, "I am the light of the world," the Pharisees objected.

They said, "You bear witness about Yourself. Your witness is not true." He answered, "Even if I bear witness about Myself, My witness is true," Jn 8:12-14.

It is therefore clear that their words testified to opposition, while His words testified to prudence.

The Jews thought that, when He witnessed about Himself, He was not worthy of trust as a man. Jesus Christ, on the contrary, said that He is wholly worthy of trust as God.

First He destroyed the contradiction they had planned, revealing what they themselves intended to say and showing that He knew their thoughts.

Then He brings forward three trustworthy and irrefutable witnesses: John, His own works, and the Father. He places first the weaker witness, John.

I remind you of him for your own sake, since you regard him as a true prophet and believe his testimony.

And you do well to believe him. He truly was a prophet, abundantly filled with the light of divine revelation and spreading around himself the bright light of the knowledge of truth.

But you are like children who suddenly become excited with joy when a candle is brought into their dark room.

Yet in that joy they forget to use the light in order to do the very thing for which it was brought into the room.

Likewise, for a time you were stirred by the gift of prophecy dwelling in John. Yet you did not make use of the light of his preaching about repentance.

You did not repent. You did not prepare yourselves to receive the Messiah, although this was precisely his purpose for you.

But I have testimony greater than John's. The miracles which I perform irrefutably prove the divinity of My person and that I am sent from the Father.

“You sent chosen men from among yourselves to John, to ask him, ‘Who are you? Are you not the Christ?’”

“If you considered John trustworthy even concerning testimony about himself, then you must acknowledge him as trustworthy concerning others also.”

“And behold, this very witness bore witness about Me as the Messiah, the Christ. If this witness is trustworthy, and if the testimony he bears about Me is therefore true, why do you not believe Me?”

“Is it not because you do not believe John either? He was a burning and shining lamp. At first you rejoiced at his appearing, but not for long.”

“The shining lamp illumined your deeds, which you were doing in darkness, and those deeds appeared in their true form. He denounced you for your lawlessness, and you hated him.”

“Yet I do not receive witness from man. But I have witness greater than John’s. The works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, these very works that I do, bear witness about Me that the Father has sent Me.”

“No one has ever done such works as I do. Only God can do them. If I do them, then these very works that I do bear witness that I am sent from God.”

“By these works the Father Who sent Me has Himself borne witness about Me.”

Chrysostom, interpreting Jesus’ words, “And the Father Who sent Me has Himself borne witness about Me,” says that the Father bore witness about the Son at His Baptism in the Jordan.

He did so by the voice from heaven: “This is My beloved Son” (Mt 3:17). Blessed Theophylact thinks that God bore witness about Him in all Scripture, in the Law and the Prophets.

But these words cannot be referred to Scripture, because Jesus speaks later of Scripture as an independent witness, in verse 39.

Nor can one suppose here the voice from heaven at Jesus’ Baptism, because only Jesus Himself and John heard that voice.

Therefore only one possible explanation remains. It refers these words to the miracles performed by Jesus.

In verse 36 Jesus’ words are given: “These very works that I do bear witness about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

Verse 37 begins by repeating what has been said: “And the Father Who sent Me has Himself borne witness about Me.”

Both expressions contain one and the same thought: “The works I do bear witness that the Father has sent Me.”

“And since the Father gave Me these works to accomplish, He Himself also bears witness about Me through these works.”

“In them, in these works done by Me, He appeared to you and spoke with you. But you did not believe Him Whom He sent to accomplish them.”

“Therefore you were deaf and did not hear His voice. You were blind and did not see His appearing. His word is foreign and incomprehensible to you. It leaves no trace in your hearts.”

“And you were willing to rejoice for a little while in his light.” Why were they willing to rejoice, and over what did they rejoice?

They did not receive John’s testimony about Christ. Therefore, it seems there was nothing to rejoice over.

In answering this question, one must keep in mind that the time when John came out of the wilderness and went through all the region around the Jordan coincided with significant events.

These events indicated the near coming of the Messiah. The scepter had departed from Judah, as in Jacob’s prophecy. That is, royal power over the Jews had passed to a foreigner.

The weeks of Daniel were also coming to an end. The chief priests, Pharisees, and scribes knew these prophecies.

They had to expect the near coming of the Messiah. They naturally had to rejoice that this coming would take place during their lifetime.

Having distorted the prophecies about the Messiah, they expected Him as an invincible king and conqueror. He would subject the whole world to the Jews and set them as kings over the conquered peoples.

With such notions of the Messiah, they heard of a new Prophet preaching in the region of the Jordan.

The thought that perhaps this Prophet was the long-awaited Messiah must surely have occupied the leaders of the Jewish people.

Dreams of the arrival of the time when they would reign over the whole world must have gladdened them.

Thus, giving themselves over to their fantasies, they rejoiced at their imminent fulfillment. But they did not rejoice for long.

They went to the Jordan, where John was baptizing. They saw him and heard his thunderous rebuke addressed to them, “brood of vipers.”

They decided that John did not correspond to the image of the Messiah they had formed for themselves. Therefore they went away from him, disappointed and embittered.

Yes, their joy was short-lived. They rejoiced for a little while.

They would say that if You bear witness about Yourself, Your witness is not true. For no man who bears witness about himself deserves belief, because of possible suspicion of self-love.

Therefore the Lord forestalled this and uttered what they wished to object to Him," says Euthymius Zigabenus; compare Theophylact and Chrysostom.

Thus these are not the Lord's own words, as though His witness about Himself were not true. Rather, they are words He places, as it were, in the mouths of the Jews.

This reconciles the apparent contradiction between these words and Jn 8:14. What the Lord said about Himself is undoubtedly true, for He Himself is the Messiah-God.

Yet the unbelieving Jews could assert that His self-witness was not true.

The law of Moses required two witnesses, no fewer, to confirm the truth or falsehood of a given matter, Num 35:30; compare Jn 8:16-17.

Christ says that if the Jews do not believe Him, He has other witnesses to the truth of what He said.

"The Lord brings forward three witnesses to the truth of His words: the works performed by Him, the testimony of the Father, and the preaching of John," says Chrysostom.

However, Chrysostom considers verse 32 to refer to John the Baptist.

In support of the view that verse 32 refers to the higher divine testimony, we must point out that in verse 34 the Lord speaks of John's testimony.

"I do not receive testimony from man," He says there. Here, in verse 32, the Lord says, "There is another who bears witness to Me.

And I know that the testimony which He bears to Me is true."

By receiving this testimony, the Lord indicates that it is the testimony of the Father of which He speaks.

"I know," the Lord also says: ὀιδα, scio. I know as God. This knowledge is higher than your human understanding.

Westcott especially points this out, noting that this is the absolute knowledge of God.