Worthy.Bible » STRONG » John » Chapter 5 » Verse 28

John 5:28 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

28 Marvel G2296 not G3361 at this: G5124 for G3754 the hour G5610 is coming, G2064 in G1722 the which G3739 all G3956 that are in G1722 the graves G3419 shall hear G191 his G846 voice, G5456

Cross Reference

Revelation 20:12 STRONG

And G2532 I saw G1492 the dead, G3498 small G3398 and G2532 great, G3173 stand G2476 before G1799 God; G2316 and G2532 the books G975 were opened: G455 and G2532 another G243 book G975 was opened, G455 which G3739 is G2076 the book of life: G2222 and G2532 the dead G3498 were judged G2919 out of G1537 those things which were written G1125 in G1722 the books, G975 according to G2596 their G846 works. G2041

1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 STRONG

For G1063 if G1487 we believe G4100 that G3754 Jesus G2424 died G599 and G2532 rose again, G450 even so G3779 them also G2532 which sleep G2837 in G1223 Jesus G2424 will G71 God G2316 bring G71 with G4862 him. G846 For G1063 this G5124 we say G3004 unto you G5213 by G1722 the word G3056 of the Lord, G2962 that G3754 we G2249 which G3588 are alive G2198 and remain G4035 unto G1519 the coming G3952 of the Lord G2962 shall G5348 not G3364 prevent G5348 them which G3588 are asleep. G2837 For G3754 the Lord G2962 himself G846 shall descend G2597 from G575 heaven G3772 with G1722 a shout, G2752 with G1722 the voice G5456 of the archangel, G743 and G2532 with G1722 the trump G4536 of God: G2316 and G2532 the dead G3498 in G1722 Christ G5547 shall rise G450 first: G4412 Then G1899 we G2249 which G3588 are alive G2198 and remain G4035 shall be caught up G726 together G260 with G4862 them G846 in G1722 the clouds, G3507 to G1519 meet G529 the Lord G2962 in G1519 the air: G109 and G2532 so G3779 shall we G2071 ever G3842 be G2071 with G4862 the Lord. G2962

Job 19:25-26 STRONG

For I know H3045 that my redeemer H1350 liveth, H2416 and that he shall stand H6965 at the latter H314 day upon the earth: H6083 And though after H310 my skin H5785 worms destroy H5362 this body, yet in my flesh H1320 shall I see H2372 God: H433

Isaiah 26:19 STRONG

Thy dead H4191 men shall live, H2421 together with my dead body H5038 shall they arise. H6965 Awake H6974 and sing, H7442 ye that dwell H7931 in dust: H6083 for thy dew H2919 is as the dew H2919 of herbs, H219 and the earth H776 shall cast out H5307 the dead. H7496

Ezekiel 37:1-10 STRONG

The hand H3027 of the LORD H3068 was upon me, and carried me out H3318 in the spirit H7307 of the LORD, H3068 and set me down H5117 in the midst H8432 of the valley H1237 which was full H4392 of bones, H6106 And caused me to pass H5674 by them round about: H5439 and, behold, there were very H3966 many H7227 in the open H6440 valley; H1237 and, lo, they were very H3966 dry. H3002 And he said H559 unto me, Son H1121 of man, H120 can these bones H6106 live? H2421 And I answered, H559 O Lord H136 GOD, H3069 thou knowest. H3045 Again he said H559 unto me, Prophesy H5012 upon these bones, H6106 and say H559 unto them, O ye dry H3002 bones, H6106 hear H8085 the word H1697 of the LORD. H3068 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD H3069 unto these bones; H6106 Behold, I will cause breath H7307 to enter H935 into you, and ye shall live: H2421 And I will lay H5414 sinews H1517 upon you, and will bring up H5927 flesh H1320 upon you, and cover H7159 you with skin, H5785 and put H5414 breath H7307 in you, and ye shall live; H2421 and ye shall know H3045 that I am the LORD. H3068 So I prophesied H5012 as I was commanded: H6680 and as I prophesied, H5012 there was a noise, H6963 and behold a shaking, H7494 and the bones H6106 came together, H7126 bone H6106 to his bone. H6106 And when I beheld, H7200 lo, the sinews H1517 and the flesh H1320 came up H5927 upon them, and the skin H5785 covered H7159 them above: H4605 but there was no breath H7307 in them. Then said H559 he unto me, Prophesy H5012 unto the wind, H7307 prophesy, H5012 son H1121 of man, H120 and say H559 to the wind, H7307 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Come H935 from the four H702 winds, H7307 O breath, H7307 and breathe H5301 upon these slain, H2026 that they may live. H2421 So I prophesied H5012 as he commanded H6680 me, and the breath H7307 came H935 into them, and they lived, H2421 and stood up H5975 upon their feet, H7272 an exceeding H3966 H3966 great H1419 army. H2428

Hosea 13:14 STRONG

I will ransom H6299 them from the power H3027 of the grave; H7585 I will redeem H1350 them from death: H4194 O death, H4194 I will H165 be thy plagues; H1698 O grave, H7585 I will H165 be thy destruction: H6987 repentance H5164 shall be hid H5641 from mine eyes. H5869

John 3:7 STRONG

Marvel G2296 not G3361 that G3754 I said G2036 unto thee, G4671 Ye G5209 must G1163 be born G1080 again. G509

John 4:21 STRONG

Jesus G2424 saith G3004 unto her, G846 Woman, G1135 believe G4100 me, G3427 the hour G5610 cometh, G3754 G2064 when G3753 ye shall G4352 neither G3777 in G1722 this G5129 mountain, G3735 nor yet G3777 at G1722 Jerusalem, G2414 worship G4352 the Father. G3962

John 5:20 STRONG

For G1063 the Father G3962 loveth G5368 the Son, G5207 and G2532 sheweth G1166 him G846 all things G3956 that G3739 himself G846 doeth: G4160 and G2532 he will shew G1166 him G846 greater G3187 works G2041 than G3187 these, G5130 that G2443 ye G5210 may marvel. G2296

John 6:39-40 STRONG

And G1161 this G5124 is G2076 the Father's G3962 will G2307 which G3588 hath sent G3992 me, G3165 that G2443 of all G3956 which G3739 he hath given G1325 me G3427 I should lose G622 nothing, G3361 G1537 G846 but G235 should raise G450 it G846 up again G450 at G1722 the last G2078 day. G2250 And G1161 this G5124 is G2076 the will G2307 of him that sent G3992 me, G3165 that G2443 every one G3956 which G3588 seeth G2334 the Son, G5207 and G2532 believeth G4100 on G1519 him, G846 may have G2192 everlasting G166 life: G2222 and G2532 I G1473 will raise G450 him G846 up G450 at the last G2078 day. G2250

John 11:24-25 STRONG

Martha G3136 saith G3004 unto him, G846 I know G1492 that G3754 he shall rise again G450 in G1722 the resurrection G386 at G1722 the last G2078 day. G2250 Jesus G2424 said G2036 unto her, G846 I G1473 am G1510 the resurrection, G386 and G2532 the life: G2222 he that believeth G4100 in G1519 me, G1691 though G2579 he were dead, G599 yet shall he live: G2198

Acts 3:12 STRONG

And G1161 when Peter G4074 saw G1492 it, he answered G611 unto G4314 the people, G2992 Ye men G435 of Israel, G2475 why G5101 marvel ye G2296 at G1909 this? G5129 or G2228 why G5101 look ye so earnestly G816 on us, G2254 as though G5613 by our own G2398 power G1411 or G2228 holiness G2150 we had made G4160 this man G846 to walk? G4043

1 Corinthians 15:22 STRONG

For G1063 as G5618 in G1722 Adam G76 all G3956 die, G599 even G2532 so G3779 in G1722 Christ G5547 shall G2227 all G3956 be made alive. G2227

1 Corinthians 15:42-54 STRONG

So G3779 also G2532 is the resurrection G386 of the dead. G3498 It is sown G4687 in G1722 corruption; G5356 it is raised G1453 in G1722 incorruption: G861 It is sown G4687 in G1722 dishonour; G819 it is raised G1453 in G1722 glory: G1391 it is sown G4687 in G1722 weakness; G769 it is raised G1453 in G1722 power: G1411 It is sown G4687 a natural G5591 body; G4983 it is raised G1453 a spiritual G4152 body. G4983 There is G2076 a natural G5591 body, G4983 and G2532 there is G2076 a spiritual G4152 body. G4983 And G2532 so G3779 it is written, G1125 The first G4413 man G444 Adam G76 was made G1096 G1519 a living G2198 soul; G5590 the last G2078 Adam G76 was made G1519 a quickening G2227 spirit. G4151 Howbeit G235 that was not G3756 first G4412 which is spiritual, G4152 but G235 that which is natural; G5591 and afterward G1899 that which is spiritual. G4152 The first G4413 man G444 is of G1537 the earth, G1093 earthy: G5517 the second G1208 man G444 is the Lord G2962 from G1537 heaven. G3772 As G3634 is the earthy, G5517 such G5108 are they also G2532 that are earthy: G5517 and G2532 as is G3634 the heavenly, G2032 such G5108 are they G2032 also G2532 that are heavenly. G2032 And G2532 as G2531 we have borne G5409 the image G1504 of the earthy, G5517 we shall G5409 also G2532 bear G5409 the image G1504 of the heavenly. G2032 Now G1161 this G5124 I say, G5346 brethren, G80 that G3754 flesh G4561 and G2532 blood G129 cannot G3756 G1410 inherit G2816 the kingdom G932 of God; G2316 neither G3761 doth G2816 corruption G5356 inherit G2816 incorruption. G861 Behold, G2400 I shew G3004 you G5213 a mystery; G3466 We shall G2837 not G3756 all G3956 G3303 sleep, G2837 but G1161 we shall G236 all G3956 be changed, G236 In G1722 a moment, G823 in G1722 the twinkling G4493 of an eye, G3788 at G1722 the last G2078 trump: G4536 for G1063 the trumpet shall sound, G4537 and G2532 the dead G3498 shall be raised G1453 incorruptible, G862 and G2532 we G2249 shall be changed. G236 For G1063 this G5124 corruptible G5349 must G1163 put on G1746 incorruption, G861 and G2532 this G5124 mortal G2349 must put on G1746 immortality. G110 So G1161 when G3752 this G5124 corruptible G5349 shall have put on G1746 incorruption, G861 and G2532 this G5124 mortal G2349 shall have put on G1746 immortality, G110 then G5119 shall be brought to pass G1096 the saying G3056 that is written, G1125 Death G2288 is swallowed up G2666 in G1519 victory. G3534

Philippians 3:21 STRONG

Who G3739 shall change G3345 our G2257 vile G5014 body, G4983 that G1519 it G846 may be G1096 fashioned like unto G4832 his G846 glorious G1391 body, G4983 according to G2596 the working G1753 whereby he G846 is able G1410 even G2532 to subdue G5293 all things G3956 unto himself. G1438

Commentary on John 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 5

Joh 5:1-47. The Impotent Man HealedDiscourse Occasioned by the Persecution Arising Thereupon.

1. 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.

2, 3. sheep market—The supplement should be (as in Margin) "sheep [gate]," mentioned in Ne 3:1, 32.

Bethesda—that is, "house (place) of mercy," from the cures wrought there.

five porches—for shelter to the patients.

3. impotent—infirm.

4. an angel, &c.—This miracle differed in two points from all other miracles recorded in Scripture: (1) It was not one, but a succession of miracles periodically wrought: (2) As it was only wrought "when the waters were troubled," so only upon one patient at a time, and that the patient "who first stepped in after the troubling of the waters." But this only the more undeniably fixed its miraculous character. We have heard of many waters having a medicinal virtue; but what water was ever known to cure instantaneously a single disease? And who ever heard of any water curing all, even the most diverse diseases—"blind, halt, withered"—alike? Above all, who ever heard of such a thing being done "only at a certain season," and most singularly of all, doing it only to the first person who stepped in after the moving of the waters? Any of these peculiarities—much more all taken together—must have proclaimed the supernatural character of the cures wrought. (If the text here be genuine, there can be no doubt of the miracle, as there were multitudes living when this Gospel was published who, from their own knowledge of Jerusalem, could have exposed the falsehood of the Evangelist, if no such cure had been known there. The want of Joh 5:4 and part of Joh 5:3 in some good manuscripts, and the use of some unusual words in the passage, are more easily accounted for than the evidence in their favor if they were not originally in the text. Indeed Joh 5:7 is unintelligible without Joh 5:4. The internal evidence brought against it is merely the unlikelihood of such a miracle—a principle which will carry us a great deal farther if we allow it to weigh against positive evidence).

5-9. thirty and eight years—but not all that time at the pool. This was probably the most pitiable of all the cases, and therefore selected.

6. saw him lie, and knew, &c.—As He doubtless visited the spot just to perform this cure, so He knows where to find His patient, and the whole previous history of his case (Joh 2:25).

Wilt thou be made whole?—Could anyone doubt that a sick man would like to be made whole, or that the patients came thither, and this man had returned again and again, just in hope of a cure? But our Lord asked the question. (1) To fasten attention upon Himself; (2) By making him detail his case to deepen in him the feeling of entire helplessness; (3) By so singular a question to beget in his desponding heart the hope of a cure. (Compare Mr 10:51).

7. Sir, I have no man, &c.—Instead of saying he wished to be cured, he just tells with piteous simplicity how fruitless had been all his efforts to obtain it, and how helpless and all but hopeless he was. Yet not quite. For here he is at the pool, waiting on. It seemed of no use; nay, only tantalizing,

while I am coming, another steppeth down before me—the fruit was snatched from his lips. Yet he will not go away. He may get nothing by staying, he may drop into his grave ere he get into the pool; but by going from the appointed, divine way of healing, he can get nothing. Wait therefore he will, wait he does, and when Christ comes to heal him, lo! he is waiting his turn. What an attitude for a sinner at Mercy's gate! The man's hopes seemed low enough ere Christ came to him. He might have said, just before "Jesus passed by that way," "This is no use; I shall never get in; let me die at home." Then all had been lost. But he held on, and his perseverance was rewarded with a glorious cure. Probably some rays of hope darted into his heart as he told his tale before those Eyes whose glance measured his whole case. But the word of command consummates his preparation to receive the cure, and instantaneously works it.

8. Rise, take up thy bed, &c.—"Immediately" he did so. "He spake and it was done." The slinging of his portable couch over his shoulders was designed to show the perfection of the cure.

9. the same day was the sabbath—Beyond all doubt this was intentional, as in so many other healings, in order that when opposition arose on this account men might be compelled to listen to His claims and His teaching.

10-16. The Jews—that is, those in authority. (See on Joh 1:19.)

it is not lawful to carry thy bed—a glorious testimony to the cure, as instantaneous and complete, from the lips of the most prejudiced! (And what a contrast does it, as all our Lord's miracles, present to the bungling miracles of the Church of Rome!) In ordinary circumstances, the rulers had the law on their side (Ne 13:15; Jer 17:21). But when the man referred them to "Him that had made him whole" (Joh 5:11) as his authority, the argument was resistless. Yet they ingeniously parried the thrust, asking him, not who had "made him whole"—that would have condemned themselves and defeated their purpose—but who had bidden him "take up his bed and walk," in other words, who had dared to order a breach of the sabbath? It is time we were looking after Him—thus hoping to shake the man's faith in his Healer.

13. he that was healed wist not, &c.—That some one, with unparalleled generosity, tenderness and power, had done it, the man knew well enough: but as he had never heard of Him before, so he disappeared too quickly for any inquiries.

conveyed himself away—slipped out of the crowd that had gathered, to avoid both hasty popularity and precipitate hatred (Mt 12:14-19).

14. findeth him in the temple—saying, perhaps, "I will go into Thy house with burnt offerings, I will pay my vows which my lips have uttered and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble" (Ps 66:13, 14). Jesus, there Himself for His own ends, "findeth him there"—not all accidentally, be assured.

sin no more, &c.—a glimpse this of the reckless life he had probably led before his thirty-eight years' infirmity had come upon him, and which not improbably had brought on, in the just judgment of God, his chronic complaint. Fearful illustration this of "the severity of God," but glorious manifestation of our Lord's insight into "what was in man."

15. The man departed, and told, &c.—little thinking how unwelcome his grateful and eager testimony would be. "The darkness received not the light which was pouring its rays upon it" (Joh 1:5, 11) [Olshausen].

16. because he had done these things on the sabbath day—What to these hypocritical religionists was the doing of the most glorious and beneficent miracles, compared with the atrocity of doing them on the sabbath day! Having given them this handle, on purpose to raise the first public controversy with them, and thus open a fitting opportunity of laying His claims before them, He rises at once to the whole height of them, in a statement which for grandeur and terseness exceeds almost anything that ever afterwards fell from Him, at least to His enemies.

17, 18. My Father worketh hitherto and I work—The "I" is emphatic; "The creative and conservative activity of My Father has known no sabbath-cessation from the beginning until now, and that is the law of My working."

18. God was his Father—literally, "His own [or peculiar] Father," (as in Ro 8:32). The addition is their own, but a very proper one.

making himself equal with God—rightly gathering this to be His meaning, not from the mere words "My Father," but from His claim of right to act as His Father did in the like high sphere, and by the same law of ceaseless activity in that sphere. And as, instead of instantly disclaiming any such meaning—as He must have done if it was false—He positively sets His seal to it in the following verses, merely explaining how consistent such claim was with the prerogatives of His Father, it is beyond all doubt that we have here an assumption of peculiar personal Sonship, or participation in the Father's essential nature.

19, 20. the Son can do nothing of himself—that is, apart from and in rivalry of the Father, as they supposed. The meaning is, "The Son can have no separate interest or action from the Father."

for what things, &c.—On the contrary, "whatever the Father doeth that same doeth the Son,"

likewise—"in the like manner." What claim to absolute equality with the Father could exceed this: not only to do "the same things," but to do them as the Father does them?

20. Father loveth … and showeth him all, &c.—As love has no concealments, so it results from the perfect fellowship and mutual endearment of the Father and the Son (see on Joh 1:1; Joh 1:18), whose interests are one, even as their nature, that the Father communicates to the Son all His counsels, and what has been thus shown to the Son is by Him executed in His mediatorial character. "With the Father, doing is willing; it is only the Son who acts in Time" [Alford]. Three things here are clear: (1) The personal distinctions in the Godhead. (2) Unity of action among the Persons results from unity of nature. (3) Their oneness of interest is no unconscious or involuntary thing, but a thing of glorious consciousness, will, and love, of which the Persons themselves are the proper Objects.

show him greater things, &c.—referring to what He goes on to mention (Joh 5:21-31), comprised in two great words, Life and Judgment, which Stier beautifully calls God's Regalia. Yet these, Christ says, the Father and He do in common.

21-23. raiseth the dead and quickeneth them—one act in two stages. This is His absolute prerogative as God.

so the Son quickeneth them—that is, raiseth up and quickeneth.

whom he will—not only doing the same divine act, but doing it as the result of His own will, even as the Father does it. This statement is of immense importance in relation to the miracles of Christ, distinguishing them from similar miracles of prophets and apostles, who as human instruments were employed to perform super-natural actions, while Christ did all as the Father's commissioned Servant indeed, but in the exercise of His own absolute right of action.

22. For the Father judgeth no man, &c.—rather, "For neither doth the Father judge any man," implying that the same "thing was meant in the former verse of the quickening of the dead"—both acts being done, not by the Father and the Son, as though twice done, but by the Father through the Son as His voluntary Agent.

all judgment—judgment in its most comprehensive sense, or as we should say, all administration.

23. honour the Son as … the Father—As he who believes that Christ in the foregoing verses has given a true account of His relation to the Father must of necessity hold Him entitled to the same honor as the Father, so He here adds that it was the Father's express intention in making over all judgment to the Son, that men should thus honor Him.

honoureth not the Father—does not do it in fact, whatever he may imagine, and will be held as not doing it by the Father Himself, who will accept no homage which is not accorded to His own Son.

24. believeth on him that sent me—that is, believeth in Him as having sent Me. I have spoken of the Son's right not only to heal the sick but to raise from the dead, and quicken whom He will: And now I say unto you, That life-giving operation has already passed upon all who receive My words as the Sent of the Father on the great errand of mercy.

hath everlasting life—immediately on his believing (compare Joh 3:18; 1Jo 5:12, 13).

is passed—"hath passed over"

from death unto life—What a transition! (Compare 1Jo 3:14).

25-29. The hour cometh—in its whole fulness, at Pentecost.

and now is—in its beginnings.

the dead—the spiritually dead, as is clear from Joh 5:28. Here He rises from the calmer phrase "hearing his word" (Joh 5:24), to the grander expression, "hearing the voice of the Son of God," to signify that as it finds men in a dead condition, so it carries with it a resurrection-power.

shall live—in the sense of Joh 5:24.

26. given to the Son, &c.—Does this refer to the essential life of the Son before all time (Joh 1:4) (as most of the Fathers, and Olshausen, Stier, Alford, &c., among the moderns), or to the purpose of God that this essential life should reside in the Person of the Incarnate Son, and be manifested thus to the world? [Calvin, Lucke, Luthardt, &c.] The question is as difficult as the subject is high. But as all that Christ says of His essential relation to the Father is intended to explain and exalt His mediatorial functions, so the one seems in our Lord's own mind and language mainly the starting-point of the other.

27. because he is the Son of man—This seems to confirm the last remark, that what Christ had properly in view was the indwelling of the Son's essential life in humanity as the great theater and medium of divine display, in both the great departments of His work—life-giving and judgment. The appointment of a Judge in our own nature is one of the most beautiful arrangements of divine wisdom in redemption.

28. Marvel not at this—this committal of all judgment to the Son of man.

for the hour is coming—He adds not in this case (as in Joh 5:25), "and now is," because this was not to be till the close of the whole dispensation of mercy.

29. resurrection of life—that is, to life everlasting (Mt 25:46).

of damnation—It would have been harsh to say "the resurrection of death," though that is meant, for sinners rise from death to death [Bengel]. The resurrection of both classes is an exercise of sovereign authority; but in the one case it is an act of grace, in the other of justice. (Compare Da 12:2, from which the language is taken). How awfully grand are these unfoldings of His dignity and authority from the mouth of Christ Himself! And they are all in the third person; in what follows He resumes the first person.

30-32. of mine own self do nothing—that is, apart from the Father, or in any interest than My own. (See on Joh 5:19).

as I hear—that is, "My judgments are all anticipated in the bosom of My Father, to which I have immediate access, and by Me only responded to and reflected. They cannot therefore err, as I live for one end only, to carry into effect the will of Him that sent Me."

31. If I … witness of myself—standing alone, and setting up any separate interest.

32. 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; 8:26, 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.

33-35. Ye sent unto John—(See Joh 1:19, &c.).

receive not testimony … from man—that is, depend not on human testimony.

but … that ye might be saved—"I refer to him merely to aid your salvation."

35. He was a burning and a shining light—literally, "the burning and shining lamp" (or torch):—that is, "the great light of his day." Christ is never called by the humble word here applied to John—a light-bearer—studiously used to distinguish him from his Master, but ever the Light in the most absolute sense. (See on Joh 1:6).

willing for a season—that is, till they saw that it pointed whither they were not prepared to go.

to rejoice in his light—There is a play of irony here, referring to the hollow delight with which his testimony tickled them.

36-38. I have greater witness—rather, "The witness which I have is greater."

the works … bear witness of me—not simply as miracles nor even as a miracle of mercy, but these miracles, as He did them, with a will and a power, a majesty and a grace manifestly His own.

37. the Father himself … hath borne witness of me—not referring, probably, to the voice of His baptism, but (as seems from what follows) to the testimony of the Old Testament Scripture [Calvin, Lucke, Meyer, Luthardt, &c.].

neither heard his voice, &c.—never recognized Him in this character. The words are "designedly mysterious, like many others which our Lord uttered" [Stier].

38. not his word abiding in you—passing now from the Witness to the testimony borne by Him in "the lively oracles" (Ac 7:38): both were alike strangers to their breasts, as was evidenced by their rejecting Him to whom all that witness was borne.

39-42. Search the scriptures, &c.—"In the Scriptures ye find your charter of eternal life; go search them then, and you will find that I am the Great Burden of their testimony; yet ye will not come to Me for that life eternal which you profess to find there, and of which they tell you I am the appointed Dispenser." (Compare Ac 17:11, 12). How touching and gracious are these last words! Observe here (1) The honor which Christ gives to the Scriptures, as a record which all have a right and are bound to search—the reverse of which the Church of Rome teaches; (2) The opposite extreme is, resting in the mere Book without the living Christ, to direct the soul to whom is its main use and chiefest glory.

41. I receive not honour from men—contrasting His own end with theirs, which was to obtain human applause.

42. not the love of God in you—which would inspire you with a single desire to know His mind and will, and yield yourselves to it, in spite of prejudice and regardless of consequences.

43-47. if another shall come, &c.—How strikingly has this been verified in the history of the Jews! "From the time of the true Christ to our time, sixty-four false Christs have been reckoned by whom they have been deceived" [Bengel].

44. How can ye believe, &c.—(See on Joh 5:40,41). The "will not" of Joh 5:40, and "cannot" here are just different features of the same awful state of the human heart.

45. Do not think I will accuse you to the Father—"My errand hither is not to collect evidence to condemn you at God's bar."

one that accuseth you, even Moses, &c.—"Alas! that will be too well done by another, and him the object of all your religious boastings—Moses," here put for "the Law," the basis of the Old Testament Scriptures.

46. he wrote of me—"an important testimony to the subject of the whole Pentateuch—'of Me'" [Alford].

47. If ye believe not—(See Lu 16:31).

his writings … my words—a remarkable contrast, not absolutely exalting Old Testament Scripture above His own words, but pointing to the office of those venerable documents to prepare Christ's way, to the necessity universally felt for documentary testimony in revealed religion, and perhaps (as Stier adds) to the relation which the comparative "letter" of the Old Testament holds to the more flowing "words" of "spirit and life" which characterize the New Testament.