John 5:33Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Yet they recognized John as so worthy of belief that even regarding himself he had no need of testimony from another.

Thus those who were sent did not ask, "What do you say about Christ?" They asked only, "Who are you? What do you say about yourself?"

So great was their reverence for this man. Christ pointed to all this when He said, "You sent to John."

For this reason the Evangelist did not simply say that they sent. He also noted precisely that those sent were priests and Pharisees.

They were not ordinary people, not outcasts, and not such as could be carried away and deceived. They were people capable of understanding exactly what John said.

John, He says, was not self-appointed in his verdict about Me. He must be free from this accusation. He offered free testimony.

You sent the question to John, "and" he "bore witness to the truth."

When those sent to him asked whether he was the Christ, "he confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him," Jn 1:20; Jn 3:28.

Thus he bore witness to the truth, for Christ is the Truth, Jn 14:6.

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.

John insistently testified that the One whose sandal strap he was unworthy to loose was already among them. He pointed directly to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, Jn 1:26-30.

Did they receive the One whom John indicated?

"But I do not receive testimony from man. I say these things, that you may be saved."

John's testimony, as that of a man, is not important for Jesus. Yet the Jews' conscience, as the voice of God, called them to value John's voice.

Still, against their conscience, they disregarded John's testimony. Therefore they are in danger of losing salvation.

Love compels the Lord to remind them of this danger, so that they may repent and hasten to step onto the path of salvation.

Love, seeking the salvation of sinners, explains who the Forerunner is. He is "a burning and shining lamp."

He is burning because he flames with love and is zealous that other hearts also be warmed by love.

He is a shining lamp because by teaching and virtues he pours light around himself, showing the paths by which one must go toward eternity.

John is a prophet. The prophets were called lamps and were such, Prov 4:18; Mt 5:14, 18; 2 Pet 1:19.

"But you were willing to rejoice for a time in his light."

The Jews, like children, amused themselves and took pleasure in the lamp's light, instead of turning his instruction to profit.

They amused themselves with the light προς ωραν, not for long, 2 Cor 7:8; Gal 2:5.

As children cast aside a toy that has bored them, so they, wearied by the Forerunner's strict teaching, sent the teacher of repentance to prison.

'Having this testimony from one so holy as John, and one to whom you yourselves sent,' says the Lord, 'how do you remain in unbelief? I say this,' the Merciful One adds, 'that you may be saved.'

Concerning John, who at that time, as one must suppose, had already been imprisoned and was preparing to appear before the Most High, the Lord already speaks in the past tense: 'He was a burning and shining lamp.' It is very difficult to determine the time of John's martyrdom. Perhaps it was then taking place, or had already taken place. But it is beyond doubt that he was already in prison.

He is called a lamp because, like all men, he was kindled from the eternal Light: 'He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness to the Light' (Jn 1:8). He burned, this lamp kindled by God, until the perishable matter of his body was spent, having fulfilled what the Lord had appointed for him on earth.

For a time he was light for those around him (Mt 5:14). For according to the Lord's word (Lk 12:35), his loins were always girded, and the lamp entrusted to him by God was always burning.

But did the Jews understand him in this way? They rejoiced at John's appearance. In view of the Lord's words, this cannot be doubted. But what did they rejoice in, if they did not believe him (Mt 21:25, 32; Mk 11:31; Lk 20:5)? They went into the wilderness more to see something curious than to learn goodness and righteousness from John (Lk 7:24-26). At first, some of the Pharisees and Sadducees were baptized by John (Mt 3:7). Yet the learned soon seem to have treated him carelessly.

Apparently the Jews' joy rested on the fact that, from the time of Malachi, about 470 years before Christ, no prophet had arisen among the people for more than four centuries. His appearance signified that God had visited His people.

Pursuing their favorite thought of the earthly greatness that was to fall to Israel's lot, the Jews expected that after John's coming the Messiah would appear. Not the Messiah who truly appeared, but the Messiah of their imagination, a king and conqueror.

The Lord answers these very thoughts when He says: 'You were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.' This was utterly fruitless rejoicing. It is depicted by the prophet Ezekiel in Ezek. 33:30, when he portrays the Jews: 'They come to you as people come to an assembly ... and they hear your words, but they do not do them. For with their mouths they make a jest of it ... And behold, you are to them like a pleasant singer with a beautiful voice, who plays well. They hear your words, but they do not do them.'

By reminding the Jews of all this in His words, the Lord wills that they be saved. Yet, as the Apostle says, 'the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it' (Heb 4:2).