John 5:33

Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(33) Ye sent . . .—Both verbs are perfects. Better, therefore, Ye have sent; He hath borne witness. The pronoun “ye” is emphatically opposed to the “I” of the following verse. They sought human witness. He had witness which was divine. The object of John’s mission was to bear witness of the Light (John 1:7), and this he did to them (John 1:19 et seq.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:30-38 Our Lord returns to his declaration of the entire agreement between the Father and the Son, and declared himself the Son of God. He had higher testimony than that of John; his works bore witness to all he had said. But the Divine word had no abiding-place in their hearts, as they refused to believe in Him whom the Father had sent, according to his ancient promises. The voice of God, accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost, thus made effectual to the conversion of sinners, still proclaims that this is the beloved Son, in whom the Father is well pleased. But when the hearts of men are full of pride, ambition, and the love of the world, there is no room for the word of God to abide in them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye sent unto John - See John 1:19.

He bare witness ... - See John 1:26, John 1:29, John 1:36. This testimony of John ought to have satisfied them. John was an eminent man; many of the Pharisees believed on him; he was candid, unambitious, sincere, and his evidence was impartial. On this Jesus might have rested the proof that he was the Messiah, but he was willing, also, to adduce evidence of a higher order.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

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."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ye sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to John, John 1:29; he was a man of reputation among you, for all the people judged him a prophet; and he had an interest in Herod’s court:

he bare witness (he doth not say to me, but) to the truth.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Ye sent unto John,.... The sanhedrim at Jerusalem made a deputation of priests and Levites to him, to know who he was, whether the Messiah, or Elias, or that prophet, John 1:19. Now had they not looked upon him, from what they knew of him, or from the character they had of him, as a faithful witness, they would never have shown him so much respect, and have been at so much pains, and charge, as to send such a body of men so far unto him, as from Jerusalem to beyond Jordan; which circumstance our Lord improves in favour of this evidence he produces:

and he bare witness unto the truth; to Christ, who is the truth itself; and to the truth of his person, and office; to his dignity, and eternity, as being before him, though coming after him; and to his divine sonship, the thing now in debate, declaring, that he was the Son of God; and to his office, as Mediator, pointing to him as the Lamb of God, who, by his blood, and sacrifice, takes away the sins of men. The Ethiopic version reads by way of interrogation, "did not you send unto John?" &c.

Geneva Study Bible

{10} Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

(10) Christ is declared to be the only Saviour by John's voice, and infinite miracles, and by the testimonies of all the prophets. But the world, being addicted to false prophets, and desirous to seem religious, does not see any of these things.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

John 5:33-34. “That witness, whose testimony you have yourselves elicited, John the Baptist, I do not accept, because it is a human testimony; I mention him for your salvation (not for my advantage), because ye have not appreciated him according to his high calling (John 5:35); the witness which I have is greater,” etc. John 5:36.

ὑμεῖς] you, on your part.

μεμαρτ. τῇ ἀληθ.] John 1:19 ff. “All that he said was testimony in favour of the truth; for the state of the case (with reference particularly to what he said of the Messiah) was as he testified.”

ἐγὼ δὲ] but I on my part.

τὴν μαρτυρίαν] the witness in question, which is to tell for me. This I cannot receive from any man. Jesus will not avail Himself of any human witness in this matter; He puts it away from Him. Accordingly, λαμβ. τ. μαρτυρίαν, just as in John 3:11; John 3:32, is to be taken of the acceptance, not indeed believing acceptance, but acceptance as proof, conformably with the context. Others, unnecessarily deviating from John’s usage, “I borrow” (Lücke), “I strive after, or lay hold of” (B. Crusius, comp. Beza, Grotius), “I snatch” (de Wette).

ἵνα ὑμεῖς σωθῆτε] for your advantage, that you on your part (in opposition to any personal interest) may attain to salvation. They should take to heart the remembrance of the Baptist’s testimony (ταῦτα λέγω), and thus be roused to faith, and become partakers of the Messiah’s redemption; “vestra res agitur,” Bengel.

Expositor's Greek Testament

John 5:33. Before exhibiting the Father’s testimony Jesus meets them on their own ground: ὑμεῖς, ye yourselves, ἀπεστάλκατε πρὸς Ἰωάννην, sent, by the deputation mentioned chap. 1, to John; which they would not have done had they not thought him trustworthy (Euthymius). The perfect is used, indicating that the result continued; as the perfect μεμαρτύρηκε indicates that “the testimony preserves its value notwithstanding the disappearance of the witness”.—τῇ ἀληθείᾳ to the truth, especially of the Messianic dignity of Jesus.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

33. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness] Better, Ye have sent unto John, and he hath borne witness. ‘What ye have heard from him is true; but I do not accept it, for I need not the testimony of man. I mention it for your sakes, not My own. If ye believe John ye will believe Me and be saved.’ ‘Ye’ and ‘I’ in these two verses (33, 34) are in emphatic opposition.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 5:33. Ὑμεῖς, ye) He shows how the Jews labour to fix their hopes anywhere, rather than on Christ Himself. I. Ye, saith He, having surmised that John is the Messiah, have sent to him, inquiring as to the truth: and truly John, when that opportunity was afforded him, bore witness to the truth, that not he, but I am the Messiah: but, etc. II. Ye, the same persons, think that you have in the Scriptures eternal life, and that nothing more is needed: on this account you are wont to search them; and not without good reason; for indeed they are they which testify of Me: but, etc. Here the Lord approves the things worthy of approval, both concerning John, and concerning the Scriptures; but He shows, that error and abuse on the part of the Jews were mixed up therewith; and He openly testifies, that His own authority, and that of His Father, is of itself greater, whereas the testimony of John and of the Scripture concerning Himself, the Christ, is only a subsidiary thing. The similar form of both paragraphs is to be observed:

John 5:33, etc.

John 5:39, etc.

ye:

ye:

and he bare witness:

and … which testify

but I … [John 5:34]:

[I] … honour [ver. 41]

but:

but … [John 5:42]

ye were willing for a season [John 5:35].

ye will not [John 5:40 : answering to “ye receive Me not,” John 5:43].

Nor is the paragraph as to Moses, John 5:45-47, dissimilar in construction: Ye have your hope placed in Moses: but this very person is on My side against you.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 33-35. -

(b) The temporary witness of John. Verse 33. - Ye have sent to John, and he hath borne witness to the truth. The sending to John was probably a reference to the official transaction described in John 1:19. This is not the "other" whom he referred to, for in the next clause he made solemn disclaimer of resting his claim upon John or upon any individual man. The witness of the forerunner was a true one. The function of the prophet is to bear witness to the Light, to strip off the veils which hide it, to call attention to its most solemn realities, to quicken vision, to stimulate conscience, to disturb apathy, to discern the coming and prepare the way of the Lord (see John 1:4, 5, notes), He was not the Light; but he did call attention to a testimony immeasurably more precious than any word proceeding merely from human lips. The testimonies of John, both before and after he came into contact with Christ, were very wonderful and were adapted to exert and did produce a deep impression upon the people for a time; but by themselves they would not have given sufficient ratification to the Lord's words. We may welcome still all Johannine, ministerial testamonies to the Lord. but the power of God himself must assert itself to the inner consciousness bet, re any man receives the gospel. No mere human testimony to such claims as these rises to the dignity of the occasion. Unless the Father's witness can be discerned, supreme, convincing, and final, John's witness would be insufficient. It may arrest attention, it may impress the apathetic, it may overawe the gainsayers; but it is not final, nor does it leave the hearers without excuse. All the rhetoric, all the threatening, all the irony, of Elijah would have failed if the fire of the Lord had not fallen to consume the sacrifice. John 5:33

Vincent's Word Studies

Ye sent

Rev., rightly, have sent. The perfect tense, with allusion to something abiding in its results. Similarly, bare witness should be hath born. Note the expressed ye (ὑμεῖς), emphatically marking the contrast between the human testimony which the Jews demanded, and the divine testimony on which Jesus relies (John 5:34).