John 5:30 - Printer Friendly

ESV: “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

NIV: By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

NASB: I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.

CSB: "I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

NLT: I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.

KJV: I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

NKJV: I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

In John 5:16–29, Jesus begins to respond to His critics. These men are persecuting Him, even attempting to kill Him, for breaking Sabbath traditions and claiming to be equal to God (John 5:18). Verse 30 summarizes the point Jesus made in the prior passage: He is in perfect unity with God the Father. In those verses, Jesus claimed to have many of the attributes of God. In particular, Jesus stated that His works (John 5:19), love (John 5:20), power over life and death (John 5:21), judgment (John 5:22), and honor (John 5:23) were identical to those of God.

This verse provides a bridge from Jesus' claims about His unity with God into the evidence which supports these claims. Jesus is justifying His teaching, and His ministry, by connecting it to the will of God.

There are some things which only Jesus can speak of, because only He could possibly know them (John 8:14). However, in this context, He is discussing truths which other people can verify. So, they fall under the normal view of Jewish law, where a person could not testify on their own behalf. Rather, two or three witnesses were needed to consider something reliable (Deuteronomy 17:6; Numbers 35:30). As the upcoming verses will show, Jesus does not appeal to "blind faith," or naked trust, when He is challenged. On the contrary, Jesus will acknowledge the need for evidence (John 5:31, 34), and then provide examples which prove His claims.

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—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 more or less avoiding 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 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 gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 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”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.