Church Fathers Commentary John 5:41-47

"I receive not glory from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves. I am come in my Father`s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, who receive glory one of another, and the glory that [cometh] from the only God ye seek not? Think not that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, [even] Moses, on whom ye have set your hope. For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" — John 5:41-47 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: Since our Lord had mentioned John, the witness of God, and His own works, many who did not see that His motive was to lead them to believe might have suspected Him of desiring human glory. Therefore, He says, "I do not receive honor from men," meaning, "I have no need of it." My nature is not one that needs the glory that comes from men. For if the Son gains nothing from the light of a candle, how much less am I in need of human glory.

Alcuin of York: Alternatively, "I do not receive honor from men" means, "I do not seek human praise." For I did not come to receive worldly honor from men, but to give spiritual honor to them. I do not bring forward this testimony, then, because I seek my own glory, but because I have compassion on your wandering and wish to bring you back to the way of truth. Hence what follows: "But I know that you do not have the love of God in you."

St. John Chrysostom: It is as if He were saying, "I said this to prove that you do not persecute Me out of love for God, for He bears witness to Me through My works and through the Scriptures. Therefore, if you loved God, just as you rejected Me when you thought I was against God, you would now come to Me. But you do not love Him." And He proves this not only from what they are doing now, but from what they will do in the future: "I have come in My Father’s name, and you did not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him." He says plainly that He has come in the Father's name so that they could never plead ignorance as an excuse.

Alcuin of York: It is as if He said, "For this reason I came into the world: so that through Me the name of the Father might be glorified, for I attribute all to Him." Since they would not receive Him who came to do His Father’s will, they did not have the love of God. But the Antichrist will come not in the Father’s name but in his own, to seek not the Father’s glory but his own. And since the Jews rejected Christ, it was a fitting punishment for them that they should receive the Antichrist and believe a lie, as they would not believe the Truth.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Listen to John: As you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. But what do you dread in the Antichrist, except that he will exalt his own name and despise the name of the Lord? And what else does he do, who says, "I justify," or those who say, "Unless we are good, you must perish"? Therefore, my life will depend on You, and my salvation will be fastened to You. Shall I forget my foundation like that? Is not Christ my rock?

St. John Chrysostom: Here is the crowning proof of their impiety. He says, in effect, "If it were the love of God that made you persecute me, you would persecute the Antichrist much more. For he does not profess to be sent by the Father or to come according to His will; on the contrary, by usurping what does not belong to him, he will proclaim himself to be God over all." It is clear that your persecution of Me comes from malice and hatred of God.

Then He gives the reason for their unbelief: "How can you believe, you who receive honor from one another and do not seek the honor that comes from God alone?" This is another proof that their zeal was not for God, but for the gratification of their own passions.

Alcuin of York: How flawed, then, is a boastful temperament and an eagerness for human praise, which desires to be thought to have what it does not, and wishes to be considered as having all that it possesses by its own strength. People with such a temperament cannot believe, for in their hearts they are focused solely on gaining praise and setting themselves above others.

The Venerable Bede: The best way to guard against this sin is to remind our consciences that we are dust and should ascribe all the good we have, not to ourselves, but to God. We should also always endeavor to be what we wish to appear to others. Then, as they might ask, "Will you then accuse us to the Father?" He anticipates this question: "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father."

St. John Chrysostom: "For I have not come to condemn, but to save. There is one who accuses you: Moses, in whom you trust." Just as He had said of the Scriptures above, "In them you think you have eternal life," so now He says of Moses, "in whom you trust," always answering them from their own authorities. But they might say, "How will he accuse us? What do you have to do with Moses, you who have broken the Sabbath?" So He adds, "For if you had believed Moses, you would perhaps have believed Me, for he wrote of me." This is connected to what was said before. Since evidence that He came from God had been forced upon them by His words, by the voice of John, and by the testimony of the Father, it was certain that Moses would condemn them. For Moses had said that if anyone comes doing miracles, leading people to God, and accurately foretelling the future, you must obey him. Christ did all this, and they did not obey Him.

Alcuin of York: He says "perhaps" in accommodation to our way of speaking, not because there is any real doubt in God. Moses prophesied of Christ: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall listen to him.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But in fact, everything that Moses wrote was written about Christ; that is, it refers to Him principally, whether it points to Him through figurative actions and expressions, or sets forth His grace and glory.

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is as if He said, "He has even written and has left his books among you as a constant reminder, so that you do not forget his words. And since you do not believe his writings, how can you believe My unwritten words?"

Alcuin of York: From this we may also infer that a person who knows the commandments against stealing and other crimes, yet neglects them, will never fulfill the more perfect and refined precepts of the Gospel.

St. John Chrysostom: Indeed, if they had paid attention to His words, they ought to have and would have tried to learn from Him what things Moses had written about Him. But they are silent. For it is the nature of wickedness to defy persuasion. Do what you will, it retains its venom to the last.