John 5:38 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

NIV: nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.

NASB: Also you do not have His word remaining in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent.

CSB: You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent.

NLT: and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me — the one he sent to you.

KJV: And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

NKJV: But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.

Jesus has been explaining three forms of evidence to support His claims, in accordance with Jewish law (Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6). The first two of these were human testimony from John the Baptist (John 5:33) and direct observations from His own miracles (John 5:36). Seeing miracles is more influential than hearing human testimony. However, to the Jewish religious leaders, nothing should have been as effective as the evidence of God's written Word (John 5:37). And yet, these men are rejecting Jesus. According to the prior verse, they have not heard the voice of God (John 5:38), so they don't recognize the One God sent as His living message (John 1:18).

Scripture explains part of how that is possible. It's a simple thought that human beings often try to ignore: those who refuse to believe will not believe, evidence or not. This applies to any concept, but especially to personal issues such as faith. Jesus will point this out in a later discussion: a person cannot understand the gospel unless they are first obedient enough to hear from God (John 7:17). James, one of the earliest-written books of the New Testament, makes it clear that "knowing" is different from "trusting" (James 2:19), and so mere "knowledge" is different from saving faith (James 2:14).

This, as Jesus will prove, is the core problem facing people such as the Pharisees. They are more interested in their own traditions (Matthew 15:6), power (John 11:48), and prestige (John 9:34) than the truth. So, even though they've been given all the evidence they need (John 9:41), they do not—they will not—believe (John 5:40). As upcoming verses will note, this is not a matter of knowledge, it is a question of will.

John 5:30–47 continues Jesus' response to His critics in Jerusalem. After healing a crippled man on the Sabbath and claiming to be equal with God, Jesus now speaks about evidence. Rather than simply saying, "have faith,'' or ''believe Me because I said so,'' He offers reasons why He should be believed. These include human testimony, the miracles He is performing, and the words of Scripture. Jesus also makes the point that those who reject the prior words of God—the Old Testament Scriptures—aren't going to believe in Christ, no matter what.

Jesus again returns to Jerusalem, as required for the various feast days. While there, He heals a man who had been crippled for nearly forty years. Since this occurred on the Sabbath, local religious leaders are angry. In fact, they are more upset with Jesus for working on the Sabbath than amazed at His miracle. In response, Jesus offers an important perspective on evidence. Jesus refers to human testimony, scriptural testimony, and miracles as reasons to believe His declarations. Christ also lays claim to many of the attributes of God, making a clear claim to divinity.

Chapters 1 through 4 showed Jesus avoiding major publicity. Here, in chapter 5, He will begin to openly challenge the local religious leaders. This chapter is Jesus' first major answer to His critics in this gospel. The fact that Jesus is willing to heal on the Sabbath sets up a theme of His upcoming disagreements with the Pharisees. Jesus also provides an important perspective on the relationship between evidence and faith, which He will expand on in later chapters. This chapter also establishes a key point made by Jesus' critics: His claims to be God.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.