John 5:34Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

So that they would not say this, listen to how He refutes such an objection by adding the following words.

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

That is: as God, I would have no need of his human testimony.

But since you give greater heed to him, consider him more trustworthy than all others, and flock to him as to a prophet, I remind you of his testimony.

I do so because you do not believe Me even when I work miracles.

For a man's voice can sometimes be rejected, even if he is one numbered among the saints. Some did not hesitate to do this, opposing the words of the prophets.

They cried out, "Speak to us other things, and proclaim to us another deception," Is 30:10.

Moreover, some who had fled from Jerusalem or from the land of Judea into Egypt openly disobeyed Jeremiah's prophecies.

These were Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and "all the proud men," as it is written.

They said, "You lie. The Lord has not sent you to us to say, Do not go into Egypt," Jer 43:2.

But what contradiction can proof by miracles admit? What occasion for obstinacy can testimony by the omnipotence of God the Father give to lovers of accusation?

Thus Nicodemus, one of their teachers and among those who had received authority, offered incontrovertible testimony from miracles.

He said, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher. For no one can do these signs which You do unless God is with him," Jn 3:2.

Since the Jews' evil-mindedness reached even to distrust of the holy Baptist himself, who gave testimony in verbal form, He again speaks according to their moral condition.

Questioned by you, the blessed Baptist did indeed bear witness to the truth. But if nothing is inviolable for you, and you habitually surrender yourselves recklessly to every slander, then naturally you rejected his voice also.

If this too seems right to you, then let it be so. I will perhaps yield, and agree with you.

For your sake I will reject John's voice also, and together with you I will set aside his testimony. I have the Father above as witness.

To teach again that this speech contains only a hypothetical agreement with the Jews, He profitably added, "But I say these things, that you may be saved."

This means: I spoke such words to you not because this is actually so, but hypothetically, that you might in every way be saved.

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 regarded John as trustworthy even in his testimony concerning himself, then you must also acknowledge him as trustworthy concerning others.

'And this very witness bore witness concerning Me as the Messiah, the Christ. If this witness is trustworthy, and if the testimony by which he testifies of Me is therefore true, why then 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 performed in darkness, and those deeds appeared in their true form. He rebuked you for your iniquities, and you hated him.

'Nevertheless, I do not receive testimony from man ... But I have a testimony greater than John's. For the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, these very works which I do, bear witness of 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, these very works which I do bear witness that I am sent from God. By these works the Father who sent Me has Himself borne witness concerning Me.'

Chrysostom, interpreting Jesus' words, 'And the Father who sent Me has Himself borne witness concerning Me,' says that the Father bore witness to the Son at His Baptism in the Jordan, by the voice from heaven: 'This is My beloved Son' (Mt 3:17). Blessed Theophylact thinks that God bore witness concerning Him throughout the whole Scripture, in the Law and the Prophets.

But these words cannot be referred to Scripture, because Jesus speaks later of Scripture as an independent testimony (verse 39). Nor can we suppose here the voice from heaven at Jesus' Baptism, because only Jesus Himself and John heard that voice.

Therefore only one possible explanation remains, one that refers these words to the miracles performed by Jesus. In verse 36 Jesus' words are given: 'The very works which I do bear witness of 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 concerning Me.'

In both expressions there is one and the same thought: 'The works done by Me bear witness that the Father has sent Me. Since the Father gave Me these works to accomplish, He Himself bears witness concerning 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 perform them. Therefore you were deaf and did not hear His voice. You were blind and did not see His manifestation. 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 in what were they to rejoice? They did not accept John's testimony concerning Christ, and therefore there was nothing to rejoice in.

In answering this question, one must keep in mind that John's departure from the wilderness and his passage through all the country around the Jordan coincided with those significant events that pointed to the Messiah's imminent coming.

The scepter had departed from Judah, according to Jacob's prophecy. That is, royal authority over the Jews had passed to a foreigner. Daniel's weeks were coming to an end.

The chief priests, Pharisees, and scribes knew these prophecies. They had to expect the Messiah's imminent coming, and naturally they had to rejoice that this coming would occur in their lifetime.

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

With such ideas about the Messiah, they hear of a new Prophet preaching in the country of the Jordan. The thought that perhaps this Prophet was the long-awaited Messiah must certainly have occupied the leaders of the Jewish people.

Their dreams of the time when they would reign over the whole world must have delighted them. Thus, giving themselves over to their fantasies, they rejoiced at their speedy fulfillment.

But they did not rejoice for long. They went to the Jordan, where John was baptizing. When they saw him and heard his thunderous rebuke addressed to them as offspring of vipers, they decided that John did not fit the idea of the Messiah they had formed. Therefore they left him, disappointed and embittered.

Yes, their joy was brief. They rejoiced only for a little while.

You handed him over to his enemies. Let it be as you say. Let John's testimony be human testimony. Let us leave it aside.

I do not need human testimony. I have a higher testimony.

But I appeal to this testimony for your sake, so that you may be saved. For it is true testimony, even though you do not believe it, mistakenly taking it as human.

"That you may be saved": by believing the Baptist's testimony as testimony to the truth and as divine testimony, you could receive salvation.

For by believing him, you would believe in Me as Messiah and would receive salvation.

In these and the following words, the Savior defends the dignity of John's testimony against the Jews' false understanding of it as human testimony.

He does not affirm that it is actually human testimony, which He supposedly does not wish to receive.

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).