Jana 5:32 Komentarz

We have in the gospels a faithful record of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, Act 1:1. These two are interwoven, because what he taught explained what he did, and what he did confirmed what he taught. Accordingly, we have in this chapter a miracle and a sermon. I. The miracle was the cure of an impotent man that had been diseased thirty-eight years, with the circumstances of that cure (v. 1-16). II. The sermon was Christ's vindication of himself before the sanhedrim, when he was prosecuted as a criminal for healing the man on the sabbath day, in which, 1. He asserts his authority as Messiah, and Mediator between God and man (Joh 5:17-29). 2. He proves it by the testimony of his Father, of John Baptist, of his miracles, and of the scriptures of the Old Testament, and condemns the Jews for their unbelief (v. 30-47).

After this there was a feast of the Jews,.... After Christ had been in Samaria, which was four months ago, Joh 4:35, and had been in Galilee for that time, and had cured the nobleman's son, and had done other mighty works, the time came on for one of the three festivals of the Jews; either the feast of Pentecost, as some think; or as others, the feast of tabernacles; or rather, the feast of the passover, so called, in Joh 4:45 since John is very particular, in giving an account of the several passovers, in Christ's ministry: and Jesus went up to Jerusalem; according to the law of God, which obliged all the males to appear there at that time; and to show his compliance with it, and obedience to it, whom it became to fulfil all righteousness; and this he did also, that he might have an opportunity of discoursing, and doing his miracles before all the people, which came at this time, from the several parts of the land.

There is another that beareth witness of me,.... Meaning not his Father, who is another, and a distinct person, from him, as the Spirit is another comforter; and both distinct testifiers from him, as well as of him. This is indeed the sense of some interpreters; but the Father is particularly mentioned in Joh 5:37; and the thread of the discourse, and the climax, or gradation, here used, show, that it is to be understood of "another man", as Nonnus paraphrases it; of John the Baptist, who is spoken of by name in the next verse, as a witness; and then a greater than he, the works of Christ, and then the Father: and I know that the witness, which he witnesseth of me, is true; for John was now alive, though in prison, and continued to bear a testimony to Christ; and therefore he speaks of him as now bearing witness of him, and abiding by that which he had bore; and Christ knew not only that what he testified of him was true in itself, but that his testimony was a valid and authentic testimony, with the generality of the Jews; who held John to be a prophet, and looked upon him as a man of great probity and integrity, and whose word was to be taken: nor indeed could the sanhedrim, before whom Christ now was, object to his character, nor to him as a witness; nor ought they, since they themselves had so judged of him, as appears by their message to him, which Christ next fails not to take notice of.

First then checking their disputatious spirit by setting forth what they would say, and showing that He knew the secrets of their hearts, and giving this first proof of His power, after stating the objection He supplieth other proofs clear and indisputable, producing three witnesses to what He said, namely, the works wrought by Him, the witness of the Father, and the preaching of John. And He putteth first the less important witness of John. For after saying, "There is another that beareth witness of Me, and I know that his witness is true," He addeth, "Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth."

In answer then, he puts forth three clear and irrefragable proofs, three witnesses as it were, to the truth of what He had said; the works which He had done, the testimony of the Father, and the preaching of John: putting the least of these foremost, i. e. the preaching of John: There is another that beareth witness of Me: and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of Me is true.

(de Verb. Dom. s. 43) He knew Himself that His witness of Himself was true, but in compassion to the weak and unbelieving, the Sun sought for candles, that their weak sight might not be dazzled by His full blaze. And therefore John was brought forward to give his testimony to the truth. Not that there is such testimony really, for whatever witnesses bear witness to Him, it is really He who bears witness to Himself; as it is His dwelling in the witnesses, which moves them so to give their witness to the truth.

The most wise Solomon, gathering together the things in which a man may very reasonably glory, and show his manner of life to be enviable, and placing them before those who are apt to learn, says, The righteous man is his own accuser in the opening of the trial, and again, Let thy neighbour praise thee and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips. For a thing truly burdensome and most intolerable to the hearers, is it that some like not to be praised by the voice of others, but attest unrestrainedly their own most noble and excellent deeds. But with reason is such language distrusted; for we are wont to be invited by certain (so to speak) natural and necessary drawings of self-love, readily to ascribe to ourselves nought that is ill, but ever to put about us and not altogether truthfully, the things whereby any may be thought well-behaved and good. When then our Lord Jesus Christ adjudged to Himself that He judgeth righteous judgments, saying openly that He could do nothing of Himself, but that He makes the Will of the Father His Rule in all His Actions, and in saying this, introduced Himself as witness to Himself, although it was true, yet of necessity considering the sophistry of the Pharisees, and what they would say in their folly (for they knew not that He is God by Nature): He anticipates them in putting it forward, and says, Ye following the practice of the common people, and not advancing beyond surmise befitting Jews, will surely say, THOU bearest record of Thyself, Thy record is not true; but ye shall hear this in reply (saith He), I endure yet with your blasphemies, I am by no means exceeding angry with you belching forth your words from the ignorance most dear to you, I grant you for argument's sake, that even this hath been well said by you: Be it so, ye reject My Voice, there is Another That beareth witness of Me. He here indicates God the Father Which is in heaven Who hath now in divers manners attested the Verity of the Essence of His Own Son; and He says that He knows that His witness is True showing that His Own Judgement too is in fact most trustworthy and true. For lest by admitting as it were that He said things untrue of Himself, He should give room for malice, and a loophole against Himself to them who are accustomed to think otherwise, He having ceded of necessity to what is becoming and customary, that one ought not altogether to credit as true him who praises and approves himself, returns again as God to His due position and says that He knows that the witness of the Father is true, all bat teaching this; I being Very God know Myself (says Ho), and the Father will say nothing of favour concerning Me. For I am Such by Nature, as He, being True, will declare Me. In the former part then there was an assent so to say of condescension, and the words hypothetic rather than true; in His saying that He knows that the witness of the Father is true, is the demonstration of God-befitting credibility. But it must be observed that in respect of His Own Person the Father is Other than the Son, and is not, as some uninstructed heretics have imagined, introduced as the Son-Father.

Since they were about to object to the words pronounced by our Lord about himself: “Your words are not true, nor worthy to be accepted, because you bear testimony about yourself”—since in their argument with him they were about to put forward this objection, our Lord forestalled them by saying, “You must not accept me as true, because I bear testimony to myself: this is what you undoubtedly mean. But you would have the right to say such a thing if I were the only one to bear testimony about myself. But now someone else said other things that were similar to my words about me, and he was a very trustworthy witness.”

Or thus; Christ, being both God and man, He shows the proper existence of both, by sometimes speaking according to the nature he took from man, sometimes according to the majesty of the Godhead. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true: this is to be understood of His humanity; the sense being, If I, a man, bear witness of Myself, i. e. without God, My witness is not true: and then follows, There is another that beareth witness of Me. The Father bore witness of Christ, by the voice which was heard at the baptism, and at the transfiguration on the mount. And I know that His witness is true; because He is the God of truth. How then can His witness be otherwise than true?

"I," He says, "have three witnesses: John, My works, and My Father." He puts forward John first.

Next, he presents these testimonies: first, a human testimony; secondly, a divine testimony. He does two things about the first. First, he mentions the testimony of John; secondly, he tells why this testimony was given (v 34). With respect to the first he does two things. First, he brings in the testimony; secondly, he commends it (v 32). He brings on the witness when he says: But there is someone else who testifies on my behalf. This is, in the opinion of Chrysostom, John the Baptist, of whom we read above: "There was a man sent by God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, that he might bear witness to the light" (1:6). He commends John's testimony on two grounds: first, because of its truth; secondly, because of its authority, for the Jews had sought it (v 33). He commends his testimony because of its truth, saying: And I know, from certain experience, that the witness he, that is, John, bears on my behalf is true. His father, Zechariah, had prophesied this of him: "You will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people a knowledge of salvation" (Lk 1:76). Now it is obvious that false testimony is not a testimony that saves, because lying is a cause of death: "A lying mouth kills the soul" (Wis 1:11). Therefore, if John's testimony was for the purpose of giving knowledge of salvation to his people, his testimony is true. Accordingly, to show that his testimony is true, not in virtue of his humanity considered in itself, but in so far as it is united to his divinity and to the Word of God, he says, But there is someone else who testifies on my behalf: not John, but the Father, according to this explanation. Because if the testimony of Christ as man is not of itself true and productive, much less is the testimony of John. Therefore, the testimony of Christ is not verified by the testimony of John, but by the testimony of the Father. So this someone else who testifies is understood to be the Father. And I know that the witness he bears on my behalf is true, for he is truth: "God is light," i.e., truth, "and in him there is no darkness," i.e., lie (1 Jn 1:5). The first explanation, which is that given by Chrysostom, is nearer to the letter of the text.

The man who had been diseased thirty-eight years healed on the Sabbath day, Joh 5:1-9. The Jews cavil, persecute Christ, and seek to kill him, because he had done this cure on the Sabbath, Joh 5:10-16. Our Lord vindicates his conduct, and shows, from the testimony of the Father, the Scriptures, John the Baptist, and his own works, that he came from God, to be the light and salvation of the world, vv. 17-39. He reproves the Jews for their obstinacy, Joh 5:40; hatred to God, Joh 5:41, Joh 5:42; pride, Joh 5:43, Joh 5:44; and disbelief of their own law, Joh 5:45-47.

There is another - God the Father, who, by his Spirit in your prophets, described my person, office, and miracles. You read these scriptures, and you cannot help seeing that they testify of me: - no person ever did answer the description there given, but myself; and I answer to that description in the fullest sense of the word. See Joh 5:39. And I know - Instead of οιδα, I know, οιδατε, ye know, is the reading of the Codex Bezae, Armenian, and two of the Itala. Ye believe the Scriptures to be of God, and that he cannot lie; and yet ye will not believe in me, though these Scriptures have so clearly foretold and described me! It is not one of the least evils attending unbelief, that it acts not only in opposition to God, but it also acts inconsistently with itself. It receives the Scriptures in bulk, and acknowledges them to have come through Divine inspiration; and yet believes no part separately. With it the whole is true, but no part is true! The very unreasonableness of this conduct shows the principle to have come from beneath, were there no other evidences against it.

THE IMPOTENT MAN HEALED--DISCOURSE OCCASIONED BY THE PERSECUTION ARISING THEREUPON. (John 5:1-47) a feast of the Jews--What feast? No question has more divided the Harmonists of the Gospels, and the duration of our Lord's ministry may be said to hinge on it. For if, as the majority have thought (until of late years) it was a Passover, His ministry lasted three and a half years; if not, probably a year less. Those who are dissatisfied with the Passover-view all differ among themselves what other feast it was, and some of the most acute think there are no grounds for deciding. In our judgment the evidence is in favor of its being a Passover, but the reasons cannot be stated here.

There is another--that is, the Father, as is plain from the connection. How brightly the distinction of the Persons shines out here! and I know that the witness, &c.--"This is the Son's testimony to the Father's truth (see Joh 7:28; Joh 8:26, Joh 8:55). It testifies to the full consciousness on the part of the Son, even in the days of His humiliation, of the righteousness of the Father" [ALFORD]. And thus He cheered His spirit under the cloud of human opposition which was already gathering over His head.