John 5:41 - Printer Friendly

ESV: I do not receive glory from people.

NIV: I do not accept glory from human beings,

NASB: I do not receive glory from people;

CSB: "I do not accept glory from people,

NLT: Your approval means nothing to me,

KJV: I receive not honour from men.

NKJV: “I do not receive honor from men.

Jesus has just given three forms of evidence to support His controversial claims (John 5:18). These fulfill the requirements of Jewish courtroom law (Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6). At the same time, truth is truth, whether anyone accepts it or not. Jesus is graciously speaking to people according to their natural human weaknesses (John 5:34). Unfortunately, many who heard His words refused to accept Him (John 5:38). This, more than any evidence, was the reason for their rejection: they simply refused to believe, no matter what (John 5:39–40).

Jesus' statement here is being made in that context. Certainly, Jesus accepted worship and praise from men (Matthew 14:33; Luke 24:52; John 9:38). Jesus' point here is that whether or not people accept Him is irrelevant—what He says is true. Jesus will point out later that there are certain ideas which only He can speak of, since He is the only one with that knowledge (John 8:14). This is meant to counter part of the Jewish religious leaders' attack on Jesus.

It's possible that these critics thought Jesus was angry because they would not approve His message. Jesus' point here is that He does not need their approval. He follows the will of the Father, whether these men accept Him or not. Since they had already made up their minds to reject Him (John 5:39–40), their endorsement will never come anyway.

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.