John 5:44

Joh_5:44

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another?

False and true glory

Something is lost in this rendering of honour in the place of glory. More is lost by the substitution of from God only for from the only God. Glory is the forthshining of light, the manifestation of a perfection inherent in the person spoken of. What a rebuke, therefore, lies in the phrase Receiving glory one from another, implying a claim of inherent excellence. To speak of it in connection with man is to deny creation and the fall, to deify man and to dethrone God. The other substitution is less excusable. The very object of the expression is to show that there is none good but One, that is God. There is but one Being who has any light to emit, any excellence to manifest. Any other glory must be counterfeit; to accept or profess to give it is an affront to the majesty of God as the one Being.

I. THE TENDENCY WHICH IS IN ALL OF US TO RECEIVE GLORY FROM ANOTHER. This is a different thing from that of which St. Paul says, Render honour to whom honour is due, or St. Peter, Honour all men. Honour is respect, recognition of the claims of position, character, humanity, not the impious flattery, for receiving which Herod was smitten. But much of that which men give to or expect from another is glory--the ascription of inherent excellence. We should call it cant to be reminded that God is the giver of that which makes a sagacious statesman or an eloquent orator. The thought, What hast thou that thou didst not receive? though it lies on our theological shelf, is not welcome as a monitor. We have borrowed the word talent from the parable, but we have divorced it from its context--as the memento of a Lord who will hold His servants in strict account.

II. In contrast with this habit OUR LORD SETS BEFORE US THE ALTERNATIVE OF SEEKING GLORY FROM THE ONLY GOD. It seems strange after the above definition of glory to seek it from God as something. He can communicate. Yet our Lord speaks of seeking from God that forthshining in ourselves The life to which Christ calls us is no tame monotony. It is a seeking of glory; the ambition to be accepted; an aspiration after an applause that the world wets not of. It is the desire for the approval of God Himself which attends upon the exercise of the Christlike mind. Where this life is there is elevation above lying world-worship. Begin this ambition at once. If hitherto we have allowed the thought of other people to come in, let us do little acts of good which no one can discover, or form some in secret, some good habit hitherto falsely ascribed to us, and thus seek a glory that comes from the only God.

III. THE CONNECTION OF FAITH WITH THESE HABITS.

1. How can ye believe who seek the one glory? To believe is to realize the invisible. This is the direct opposite of the habit before us. To receive glory from another is to be deaf and blind to all but sense and time.

2. How can ye believe who seek not the other glory? Faith is a thing which presupposes a searching after, till it finds the God in whom man lives and moves and has his being: the half unconscious consciousness that there is a glory which God, the alone good and great and glorious, destines for and can alone bestow on man.

3. How can ye believe?

(1) It is good for us to be sternly reminded that there are states of mind incapable of believing.

(2) The gospel may be true all the time and you responsible for rejecting it. How can ye believe with your worldly lives and ambitious projects?

(3) Lord, convince us of the shame and folly and wickedness of this earth-bounded, miserable creature worship, and draw our thoughts upwards to Thy glorious presence. (Dean Vaughan.)

The peril of seeking honour of men

1. All its attendant circumstances add weight to this remarkable utterance. It is the statement of the hidden reasons for Jewish wilfulness. There was a deep moral incapacity which made Christs words and works powerless.

2. That which made belief powerless in the Jews makes it powerless in us.

3. In a very few touches He shows the real character of this evil--the allowing mans estimate to become the measure of what is to be honoured.

I. WHAT THIS DANGER IS THE EFFECT OF WHICH IS TO MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO SAVINGLY RECEIVE THE TRUTH.

1. Pride. Take, e.g., a man of high intellectual power. Poor as it is held by Gods standard, yet when judged according to the low measures many propose to themselves, the man has a right to be proud. Accordingly, he becomes a law unto himself and looks on others with a calm sense of superiority. By degrees he has a secret pleasure in going against the common forms of belief. His greater acuteness shows him errors in creeds, and then perhaps he stoops to be a leader of babes and grows into a heresiarch, or sinks, if truth be too strong for him, into the sadder honours of a spurious martyrdom. But for some overpowering work of grace, belief is impossible to such a man. Wrapped up in the superiority cf a Pharisee, or embittered into a scoffing Sadducee, how can he believe?

2. Self-conceit--a bastard growth of the same evil root. There is scarcely any peculiarity on which such may not ground a high estimate of themselves. Singularities of dress, bodily defect, a lisp, etc., show the workings of this lesser devil. What is there in this empty, inflated, irritating soul on which the gospel can lay hold when a strange dress, etc., is enough to satisfy his desire for greatness?

3. Vanity--closely related to the two former and yet widely different. It is a diseased desire for the good opinion of others to mend or bolster up our good opinion of ourselves. There is no humiliation to which a vain man will not stoop; he would rather be laughed at than left unnoticed. His itching desire to bring himself into notice spreads into his religion, and shows itself in small instances of ridiculous manner or rite. How can such an one believe?

4. Self-consciousness.is a struggling form of the same evil. The self-conscious man is ever tormented with an ever-present vision of self in what he is doing. He cannot confess sin without thinking how well he is doing it, nor pray without thinking how others, if they only saw him, would applaud. All of these forms have about them this deadly element, that they substitute some lower object for the one true end of a mans being--to do the will of God.

II. WHERE IS OUR DELIVERANCE?

1. We cannot find it in ourselves. The proud man cannot reason himself out of his pride; self-conceit will survive all disgrace; vanity will go on all through life blemishing everything, and self-consciousness will poison a life of active exertion and contemplative piety.

2. Self in this deceitful form can only be cast out by our Maker. In His presence only can we see our littleness. There all self-delusions fade. It is well, then, to get there from time to time in a solemn and especial manner.

3. But then you must watch in detail against the temptation.

(1) Think as little as possible about any good in yourself; turn your eyes from self and speak as little as possible about yourself, and specially be on your guard against the little tricks by which the vain man seeks to secure attention.

(2) Take meekly the humiliations which God in His providence deals out to you.

(3) Place yourself often beneath the Cross. (Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

Undue regard to reputation a source of unbelief

I. THE NATURE AND EVIL TENDENCY OF AN UNDUE REGARD TO REPUTATION.

1. There is a proper regard which is useful and laudable. This Samuel and Paul had. We may value it

(1) As a test of our own character, and as an instrument for doing good.

(2) But in a moderate manner, and

(3) Not as the main motive of our conduct.

2. There may be an undue regard in cases in which the opinion of the world seems to be entirely despised. An affectation of singularity, a contrariety to the maxims and conduct of the world, may spring from a desire of reputation.

3. In general, however, it is by the dread of singularity that this undue regard is evinced. We are anxious to follow the world. The evil of such a principle is great.

(1) It robs God of His proper glory.

(2) It is base and mean, therefore, and further because it is but the love of self.

(3) It is highly prejudicial to others. For it will induce us to flatter them in order that they may be pleased with us.

(4) It fails of its object. The world is a hard master. Them that honour Me I will honour, but they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

II. THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCY OF SEEKING THE HONOUR THAT COMETH OF GOD.

1. Its nature and advantages. The man who is guided by this motive

(1) Sets God ever before him as his supreme Lord whom he is bound by every obligation to obey.

(2) He learns to attach little value to human approbation.

(3) He obtains peace, and

(4) The time is coming when he will enter upon eternal honour, while those who act from the opposite principle will be rewarded with shame and everlasting contempt.

2. Its excellence. It is

(1) Pure, unalloyed by any mixture of imperfection, and consists of regard for a Being infinitely pure.

(2) Simple, because it has but one end in view.

(3) Noble, because its end is the glory of God.

(4) Fixed and permanent. The tastes of men vary, but the will of God is unchangeable.

(5) Always productive of peace and happiness.

III. THE CONNECTION OF THESE PRINCIPLES WITH A READY RECEPTION OF THE DOCTRINES OF CHRIST. AS the understanding is biassed by the affections, it follows that when the love of reputation operates the mind is predisposed to believe that system which is fairest in human estimation. The man who follows the world has nothing to do with principle or truth. He is a slave to those whose opinion he courts. It is not to a character like this that it belongs to pursue the calm investigation of truth or to suffer for it. This requires independence and unselfishness only imparted by the influence of some great principle, such as a supreme desire for the favour of God. Hence Nicodemus, Joseph, Nathanael, Zacchaeus, etc., were already disposed by the fear of God to embrace the gospel, while in the Pharisees, whose religion was vanity and whose hearts thirsted for applause, rejected it. (J. Venn, M. A.)

Why men cannot believe in Christ

I. THE HINDRANCE IN THE WAY OF THE PHARISEES.

1. The mere fact of receiving honour, even if that honour be rightly rendered, may make faith a difficulty. He is in danger of being elevated above the conviction of sin and of the necessity of salvation.

2. It is still more perilous if, receiving honour, we come to expect it. Those who do are not in the condition which renders it easy to say, God be merciful to me, a sinner.

3. The Pharisees received honour, but it was quite undeserved. They extolled one another for ostentatious religiousness, whereas they devoured widows houses, etc. If a man has a fine character and doesnt deserve it, and allows it to go on, how can he believe in Christ whose light shows him in his true colours? How can the man who has lived in the dark love the light?

4. Always receiving this honour, they deceived themselves into believing that they deserved it. The deluded becomes self-deluded, and when the smoke of incense makes their eyes dim with self-conceit, it is not at all marvellous that they cannot believe in Christ.

5. The praise of men generally turns the receivers into great cowards. To believe in Jesus is to forfeit that. Men would no longer salute them as Rabbi, but turn them out of the synagogue. So a good many now cannot believe because they are afraid. The commercial traveller would be exposed to the chaff of the commercial room; the working man to the coarse remarks of the workshop. Some are afraid of the boon companions whom they have led. How many live on the breath of their fellow men!

II. OTHER HINDRANCES.

1. Some are unable to believe because they have a very high opinion of themselves. They have never done anything amiss, or have good hearts at bottom.

2. In many cases there is a strong aversion to confession of sin and to approach to God.

3. In others the hindrance is indolence.

4. Many are too fond of pleasure to believe in Christ.

5. Habitual or occasional sin.

6. Love of gain.

7. An unforgiving temper;--all impede faith in Christ. But they all aggravate the sin. Dare you plead them before God? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The idolatry of genius

I. DESCRIBE THE EVIL.

1. The lowest and least sinful grade of it is when men value genius and do homage to it simply for its own sake, and apart from its uses. This evil is exemplified where men honour another, not for anything he has done, but simply because he has received from God some quality, intelligence, beyond that ordinarily bestowed. He may be a vain man, who is concerned chiefly to use his gifts for display; or an indolent man, who allows life to pass away without his doing any benefit; or a thoughtless man, who has never formed one worthy aim; or an irresolute man, who is driven through life as a mere waif.

2. A worse is reached when men suffer their admiration of genius to blind them to moral distortions. Sometimes the man is bold and wicked enough to employ, genius for feathering the poisoned arrows of vice, so that they may fly the surer and strike the deeper. At other times only the tendency of his writings saps the moral principle. In other cases the writer may have kept his page comparatively clean whilst he has been himself a man of notoriously flagitious life. Are such men worthy of being held up to admiration?

3. Another stage, more daring and wicked, is when men of superior powers are actually deified. This is exemplified in those forms of heathen hero-worship; and something not essentially different from this may be found in the saint-worship of the Romish Church. It may appear to some, however, that there is no risk of this species of idolatry attaching itself to mere literary genius. But what is to be said of the deliberate proposal of Comte--to revise the Calendar, and appoint days for the special worship of greatmen, gods, heroes, saints; in the first of which he would place such names as those of Moses, Homer, St. Paul, Shakespeare, Frederick the Great; in the second, Buddha and Confucius; and in the third, Hercules and Ovid?

II. THE EVIL AND DANGER OF SUCH A TENDENCY. The worship of genius is

1. Irrational. The difference between one mans intellect and anothers can never be so immense as to make it compatible with the dignity of a rational being for the less gifted to bow down in homage and reverence to his more richly endowed brother. Is it not a dereliction from our proper manhood? What would be thought of us were we to treat other gifts of God after the same fashion? Beauty, strength, etc.

2. Immoral. The first principle of morality is, that a man is neither to be praised nor blamed for what is merely physical and constitutional. The mere possession of a gift infers no excellence, implies no worthiness. It is as the possessor uses them that he becomes a fit subject for approbation or the opposite. The immorality is heightened when a man of genius is lauded, in spite of the impurity, blasphemy, or falsehood of his writings, or the crimes of his life.

3. Prejudicial to the moral interests of the youth of the community. We must put an end, says the Platonic Socrates, speaking of the immortal stores of the Greek poets, We must put an end to such stories in our State, lest they beget in the youth too great a facility for wickedness.

4. Idolatrous. You worship genius: Why?--Because it is the gift of God? So is nature. Because it is attractive and brilliant? So is the sun, so are the stars, the earth, the sea. Because it fills you with delight? So do the flowers. Where do you draw the distinction? (W. L. Alexander, D. D.)

Self-seeking

A certain king had a minstrel whom he commanded to play before him. It was a day of high feasting; the cups were flowing, and many great guests were assembled. The minstrel laid his fingers among the strings of his harp and woke them all to the sweetest melody, but the hymn was to the glory of himself. It was a celebration of the exploits of song which the bard had himself performed, and told how he had excelled highborn Hoels harp, and emulated soft Llewellyns lay. In high-sounding strains he sang himself and all his glories. When the feast was over, the harper said to the monarch, O king, give me thy guerdon; let the minstrels meed be paid. Then the monarch replied, Thou hast sung unto thyself; pay thyself. Thine own praises were thy theme; be thyself the paymaster. The harper cried, Did I not sing sweetly? O king, give me thy gold! But the king said, So much the worse for thy pride, that thou shouldst lavish such praise on thyself. Get thee gone, thou shalt not serve in my train. (W. Baxendale.)

Happiness and humility

Some time since I took up a work purporting to be the lives of sundry characters as related by themselves. Two of those characters agreed in remarking that they were never happy until they ceased striving to be great men. (E. Payson, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 5:44. How can ye believe which receive honour one of another — That is, while ye seek the praise of men, rather than the praise of God? In other words, “How can such persons as you believe in me, whose character and station are entirely different from what you have all along told the people the Scriptures teach concerning the Messiah? This confession of your own ignorance is not to be expected from you, who, in all your actions, seek the praise of men, (Mat 23:5,) and not the praise of God, which is the only true praise, and is to be obtained by a steady regard to truth and virtue, in opposition to all earthly passions whatever.” Thus our Lord shows, that “their infidelity was owing, in a great measure, to their pride. They who had all along preached glorious things concerning the empire and grandeur of the Messiah, would not ascribe that august character to a mere teacher, who was destitute even of the ordinary advantages of birth, fortune, and erudition; because it would have been such a confession of ignorance and unskilfulness in the Scriptures, as must have exposed them to the contempt of those whom they had misled.” — Macknight.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:44 The Jewish leaders pursued honor and prestige from each other. They loved religious life, but they had forgotten to love God. This hypocrisy made them liable to judgment (5:45-46).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 5:44. Δόξαν παρὰ ἀλλήλων, glory from one another) Each one of you thinks that he is righteous, in accordance with what you mutually think of yourselves: and ye do not labour, that you may be approved of in the sight of God alone. Comp. Rom 2:29, “Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”—καὶ τὴν δόξαν, and the glory) that which is the portion of the sons of God, ch. Joh 1:12, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”—παρὰ τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ, from Him who is God alone [but Engl. Vers. “from God only”]) ch. Joh 17:3, “Thee, the only true God.”—οὐ ζητεῖτε) This is connected with the article οἱ, which is implied in λαμβάνοντες, i.e. οἳ λαμβάνετε.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 5:44 . The Jewish inability to believe arose from their earthly ambition: πῶς δύνασθε … οὐ ζητεῖτε . The root of their unbelief was their earthly idea of glory, what they could win or bestow. This incapacitated them from seeing the glory of Christ, which was divine and heavenly, which men could not give or remove. The glory παρὰ ἀλλήλων is contrasted with that παρὰ τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ from the only God, the only source, arbiter, and dispenser of praise. Seeking credit as religious men from one another, they necessarily habituated themselves to current ideas, and blotted out Divine glory from their mind.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

How can ye believe, &c.--(See on Joh 5:40-41). The "will not" of Joh 5:40, and "cannot" here are just different features of the same awful state of the human heart.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 44. How can ye believe, which receive honour, c.] The grand obstacle to the salvation of the scribes and Pharisees was their pride, vanity, and self-love. They lived on each other's praise. If they had acknowledged Christ as the only teacher, they must have given up the good opinion of the multitude and they chose rather to lose their souls than to forfeit their reputation among men! This is the ruin of millions. They would be religious, if religion and worldly honour were connected; but as the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and their hearts and souls are wedded to the earth, they will not accept the salvation which is offered to them on these terms-Deny thyself: take up thy cross, and follow ME. It is no wonder that we never find persons making any progress in religion who mix with the world, and in any respect regulate their conduct by its anti-Christian customs, maxims, and fashions.

From God only?] Or, from the only God - Παρα του μονου Θεου. Two of the ancient Slavonic versions read, From the only begotten Son of God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

44. How can you believe? As it might be thought harsh to say that those who were from their childhood the trained disciples of the Law and the Prophets, should be charged with such gross ignorance and declared to be enemies of the truth, and as this might even be thought to be incredible, Christ shows what it is that hinders them from believing. It is because ambition has deprived them of sound judgment; for he speaks, in a peculiar manner, to the priests and scribes, who, swelled with pride, could not obey God. This is a remarkable passage, which teaches that the gate of faith is shut against all whose hearts are preoccupied by a vain desire of earthly glory. For he who wishes to be somebody in the world must become wandering and unsteady, so that he will have no inclination towards God. Never is a man prepared to obey the heavenly doctrine, until he is convinced that his principal object, throughout his whole life, ought to be, that he may be approved by God.

But it may be thought that the wicked confidence, by which hypocrites exalt themselves in the presence of God, is a greater obstacle than worldly ambition; and we know that this was also a disease with which the scribes were deeply infected. The answer is easy; for Christ intended to tear from them the false mask of sanctity, by which they deceived the ignorant multitude. He therefore points, as with the finger, to the grosser vice, by which it may be made manifest to all that nothing is farther from their true character than what they wished to be reckoned. Besides, though hypocrisy exalts itself against God, still, in the world and before men, it is always ambitious; nay, more, it is this vanity alone that swells us with false presumption, when we rely more on our own judgment, and that of others, than on the judgment of God. He who in reality presents himself before God as his Judge, must, of necessity, fall down humbled and dismayed, and finding nothing in himself on which he can place reliance. So, then, in order that any man may seek glory from God alone, he must be overwhelmed with shame, and flee to the undeserved mercy of God. And, indeed, they who look to God see that they are condemned and ruined, and that nothing is left to them in which they can glory but the grace of Christ. The desire of such glory will always be attended by humility.

So far as relates to the present passage, Christ’s meaning is, that there is no other way in which men can be prepared for receiving the doctrine of the Gospel, than by withdrawing all their senses from the world, and turning them to God alone, and seriously considering that it is with God that they have to do, that, forgetting the flatteries by which they are accustomed to deceive themselves, they may descend into their own consciences. We need not wonder, therefore, if the Gospel in the present day find so few persons willing to be taught, since all are carried away by ambition. Nor need we wonder if many apostatize from the profession of the Gospel, for they are hurried away by their own vanity and fly off. So much the more earnestly ought we to seek this one thing, that, while we are mean and despised in the eyes of the world, and even overwhelmed within ourselves, we may be reckoned among the children of God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(44) How can ye believe . . .?—The emphasis is again on the pronoun. It is not possible that ye should believe in Me, as our whole position is entirely different. Ye receive glory from men. I do not (Joh_5:41). I am come in My Father’s name (Joh_5:43). Ye do not seek the glory which is from God. We are, then, in wholly distinct spheres of life, and action, and thought. To believe would be to give up your whole present life. While ye are what ye are, it cannot be.

The marginal reference compares the parallel thought of Joh_12:43. This is obscured in the English version by a difference of words for the same Greek word. Here, as in Joh_5:41, it would be more exact to read glory for “honour,” and in Joh_12:43, glory for “praise.”

From God only.—Better, from the only God. Comp. Rom_16:27; 1Ti_1:17; 1Ti_6:15-16; Jud_1:25. The article before “glory” should be noted. They received glory one of another. They sought not the glory, which was a divine attribute, (Comp. Joh_1:14.) Their charge against Him was that He made Himself equal with God. Thinking themselves monotheists, they were really idolaters. Each man, receiving glory from another, was in the place of a god to that other. Each man giving this glory to another, was rendering to a fellow man that which belonged to God only. They, not He, were robbing God of His glory.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

44. How can ye believe] The emphasis is on ‘ye.’ How is it possible, for you, who care only for the glory that man bestows, to believe on One who rejects such glory. This is the climax of Christ’s accusation. They have reduced themselves to such a condition that they cannot believe. They must change their whole view and manner of life before they can do so, comp. Joh_5:47.

from God only] Rather, from the only God, from Him who alone is God; whereas by receiving glory from one another they were making gods of one another; so that it is they who really ‘make themselves equal with God’ (Joh_5:18). The Greek is not similar to Mat_17:8 or Luk_5:21, but to Joh_17:3; 1Ti_6:16. Comp. Rom_16:27; 1Ti_1:17; Jude 25. Note the absence of the article before the first ‘honour’ and its presence before the second: they receive glory, such as it is, from one another, and are indifferent to the glory, which alone deserves the name.

The whole verse should run thus, How can ye believe, seeing that ye receive glory one of another; and the glory which cometh from the only God ye seek not.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father,.... To God the Father, as the Ethiopic version reads. The Syriac and Persic versions read by way of interrogation, "do ye think that I will?" &c. Christ is no accuser of men; no, not of the worst of men; see Joh 8:10; he came not into the world to bring charges against men and condemn them, but to save them; to be an accuser is not agreeable to his characters of a Surety, a Saviour, an Advocate, and Judge: there were enough to accuse these persons of; as their perverseness and stubbornness, in not coming to Christ for life; their want of love to God; their rejection of him, though he came in his Father's name; their reception of another, that should come in his own name; their taking honour one of another, and not seeking the true spiritual and eternal honour, which God gives; but though he hints these things to them, he would not have them think that he accused them of them to the Father: the Jews have a notion, that when the Messiah comes, there will be accusations lodged against their doctors and wise men (t).

"R. Zeira says, that R. Jeremiah bar Aba said, that in the generation in which the son of David shall come, there will be , "accusations against the disciples of the wise men".''

And one of their writers (u) thus interprets, Dan 12:1,

"and at that time "shall Michael stand up"; he shall be as silent as a dumb man, when he shall see the holy blessed God contending with him, and saying, how shall I destroy a nation so great as this, for the sake of Israel? "and there shall be a time of trouble" in the family above, and there shall be "accusations" against the disciples of the wise men.''

However, there was no need for Christ to accuse them; for as it follows,

there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust; by whom is meant, not Moses personally; for when on earth, he was a mediator between God and the people of Israel, and an intercessor for them; and since he has been in heaven, as the dead know not any thing, he knew nothing of their affairs; and when he was on the mount with Christ, his discourse with him turned upon another subject: but either the writings of Moses, as in Luk 16:29; or the doctrine of Moses, as Co1 10:2; or rather the law of Moses, Mat 22:24. And in this the Jews trusted; they rested in it, and made their boast of it; and expected eternal life and salvation on account of their having it, and through their hearing it read every sabbath day, and by their obedience to it: and now sin being a transgression of the law, this same law brings charges against them, and accuses them of the breach of the several precepts of it, and pronounces them guilty before God; it curses and passes a sentence of condemnation on them, and according to it, will they perish eternally, without an interest in Christ; for their own righteousness by the law of works, will be of no avail to them; the law in which they trust for life, will rise up in judgment, and be a swift witness against them: so the Jews sometimes speak of the law, as witnessing against the people of Israel (w).

(t) T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 112. 2. (u) Jarchi in Dan xii. 1. Vid. Abkath Rocel, par. 2. p. 265. (w) Prefat. Echa Rabbati, fol. 40. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

Ver. 44. Which receive honour one of another] Faith empties a man of himself, purgeth upon ambition, and is an act of the will; else the seeking of praise with men could be no impediment to the act of believing. Surely, as Pharaoh said of the Israelites, "they are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in;" so may we say of many, they are entangled in the creature, the world hath shut them in, they cannot come to Christ. They are shut up in the cave of the world, as those five kings in a cave, Jos 10:18; have hardness of heart, as a great stone rolled to the mouth, and honours, riches, and pleasures, are so many keepers, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Which receive honour one of another - Who are studious of praise, and live for pride, ambition, and vainglory. This desire, Jesus says, was the great reason why they would not believe on him. They were unwilling to renounce their worldly honors, and become the followers of one so humble and unostentatious as he was. They expected a Messiah of pomp and splendor, and would not submit to one so despised and of so lowly a rank. Had the Messiah come, as they expected, with pomp and power, it would have been an honor, in their view, to follow him; as it was, they despised and rejected him. The great reason why multitudes do not believe is their attachment to human honors, or their pride, and vanity, and ambition. These are so strong, that while they continue they cannot and will not believe. They might, however, renounce these things, and then, the obstacles being removed, they would believe. Learn:

1. A man cannot believe the gospel while he is wholly under the influence of ambition. The two are not compatible. The religion of the gospel is humility, and a man who has not that “cannot” be a Christian.

2. Great numbers are deterred from being Christians by pride and ambition. Probably there is no single thing that prevents so really young men from becoming Christians as this passion. The proud and ambitious heart refuses to bow to the humiliating terms of the gospel.

3. Though while a man is under this governing principle he cannot believe the gospel, yet this proves nothing about his ability to lay that aside, and to yield to truth. that is another question. A child cannot open a trunk when he gets on the lid and attempts to raise his own weight and the cover of the trunk too; but that settles nothing about the inquiry whether he might not get off and then open it. The true question is whether a man can or cannot lay aside his ambition and pride, and about that there ought not to be any dispute. No one doubts that it may be done; and if that can be done, he can become a Christian.

Seek not the honour - The praise, the glory, the approbation of God. The honor which comes from men is their praise, flattery, commendation; the honor that comes from God is his approbation for doing his will. God alone can confer the honors of heaven - the reward of having done our duty here. That we should seek, and if we seek that, we shall come to Christ, who is the way and the life.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

It is evident that by receiving honour from one another, is here to be understood the seeking and pursuing of honour and applause from men, without regard to the praise of God: so also Joh 12:43. For otherwise it is lawful for parents to receive honour from children, masters from servants, princes and other magistrates from people. But for men to be ambitious of honour and applause from men, in neglect of the honour and praise of God, this is highly sinful; and it cannot be expected that any such persons should so far deny themselves, and renounce their own works of righteousness, as to accept of Christ and his righteousness, and rely upon him alone for life and salvation. It is said, Joh 12:42, that among the chief rulers many believed; yet it is added, Joh 12:43, For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. But those words, Joh 12:43, seem rather to refer to the Pharisees, mentioned in the latter part of Joh 12:42, where a reason is given why, though many great rulers believed, yet they did not confess Christ, because of the Pharisees. Or if those words, Joh 12:43, be to be applied to those of whom it is said, they believed, Joh 12:42, we must distinguish concerning believing, which in Joh 12:42 signifieth no more than an assent given to him as a great prophet, upon the miracles they saw wrought by him; in this place, a true and lively faith, receiving Christ as our Mediator and Saviour.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

44. Receive honour one of another—We should indeed honour all men. But the excited ambition of these Jews, unable to gratify itself in triumph over foreign nations, exhausted itself in exacting and exchanging honours with each other. The honour that cometh from God only is alone eternal, enduring with our immortal existence. While this contrary feeling of earthly honour filled their hearts, belief in Christ was impossible. That worldly temper and that heavenly faith were incompatible.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

How can ye believe, seeing that ye receive glory one from another, and ye seek not the glory that cometh from the only God?

The difficulties of faith in himself multiply as he proceeds. First, he insisted that he had searched their hearts, and found there none of that elementary "love of God" which is the prime condition of knowledge or faith. Then he showed that an appreciation on their part of the type of character antithetic to his own, i.e. of the man who comes in his own name and seeks his glory from men, must blind them to that which is most characteristic of himself. They will receive the prophet, the pseudo-Christ, for the very reason that makes his own mission so unpalatable. He strikes right across their taste, their passion, their prejudice. He now lays down a new or modified statement of one of the prime conditions of spiritual faith. There is a universal desire for doxa , glory, of some sort. The original meaning of doxa here almost forces itself into the text. Doxa "opinion," thought, and the good opinion which one person may entertain with reference to another. The glory of a Greek citizen was the good opinion of his fellow citizens or fellow countrymen. God"s "glory" is the universal judgment of all intelligences, including his own concerning himself. The highest "glory" of man is the approval of Almighty God; the "opinion" which is absolutely true and is not mingled or contaminated with any flattering fictions. The minds which deliberately ignore this highest and only true source of glory, and substitute for it the glory of the ignorant plaudits and unreal approval, and unhesitating homage of the clique to which they belong, are m a moral condition incapacitating them to believe in the Christ. How should they? How can they? It is not possible for that man to believe Christ at all whose mind is so befogged, whose moral judgments are so dislocated. "The only God (para tou monou Yeou), . (see Joh_17:3 Rom_16:26 1Ti_6:15) The use of this epithet in the Fourth Gospel is of singular value. Moreover, in this very connection the Son is so exalted above the world, and the Father comes so close to man in Christ, that we cannot wonder that Gnosticism and Arianism rapidly evolved a Ditheism of great peril to the conscience. The Lord, notwithstanding the lifting of his humanity to the throne of universal judgment, and the lifting of his Sonship into the bosom of God, on more than one occasion reminds his hearers of the unity, the solity, of Almighty God.

A special hindrance to faith.

Jesus deals with the numerous obstacles to faith one by one, as they rise up. And observe, too, that Jesus is here dealing, not only with unbelievers, but with mortal enemies. Some looked on Jesus and listened to him, and then went away, as little touched by hate as by love; others were so filled with falsehood and pride, and zeal of God not according to knowledge, that almost every word of Jesus caused a fresh and violent irritation. Such could do nothing but oppose Jesus, and make their unbelief hideously manifest in their works. And Jesus knows the reason for all this violence in unbelief. These opponents of his have wrong views as to the true glory of human nature. Jesus could never have a glory that would please them.

I MAN"S TOUCHING CONSCIOUSNESS THAT HE COMES SHORT OF HIS GLORY. For it is glory rather than honour that Jesus is here speaking about. The word is doxa , not timh . Glory is the manifestation, the full bringing out of what is inside. Honour is the value, the price, so to speak, which others put upon us. These enemies of Jesus, according to the judgment he expresses upon them, were men seeking a glory which would not come by any natural development. If it came, it had to come by their wishing and seeking. The glory of the lily in its clothing comes by the mystery of its creation; the glory of Solomon comes by what he gathers to himself. Jesus looked upon men, every one of whom was conscious he had done something, had achieved for himself a position of sanctity and success which made it right for others to honour him.

II MAN LETTING HIS GLORY BE DETERMINED BY FRAIL HUMAN JUDGMENT. When ambition gets into our hearts, we crave for those eminences and splendours which the world, in its fondness for the outward and visible, will readily recognize. Jesus could not be recognized for what he was, because he could not be measured by the standard to which his enemies habitually appealed. It was not that he came short of the standard; he could not be measured by it at all. It was as if a man who had nothing but liquid measures should be asked to determine the length of a piece of cloth. These enemies of Jesus could not even understand him. He set at nought the glories, the aims, and the sanctities they held dearest. They let glory be determined by human traditions and the self-seeking notions of the natural heart.

III HOW SEEKERS OF GLORY CAN COME TO A REAL FAITH IN JESUS. They must see how in Jesus there is the real, abiding, everlasting glory of humanity. In Jesus there was the glory that cometh from God the glory of a pure heart, a gentle spirit, a perfect integrity; the glory of a life that best shows forth the glory of God. This was the glory of Jesus, that he glorified the Father. In the Son, those who had eyes to discern could see all of the eternal glory that was within the reach of human perceptions. As long as these enemies of Jesus remained in the same mind and clung to their cherished standards, so long Jesus would be impossible to their faith. Our attitude to Jesus infallibly determines our real worth. We are unconsciously judging ourselves in judging him. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

While ye receive honour - That is, while ye seek the praise of men rather than the praise of God. At the feast of pentecost, kept in commemoration of the giving the law from Mount Sinai, their sermons used to be full of the praises of the law, and of the people to whom it was given. How mortifying then must the following words of our Lord be to them, while they were thus exulting in Moses and his law!

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Here Christ tells the Jews, that it is impossible they should believe aright in him, because they were so in love with the praise of men, that they would own him for the Messias, who could promsie them a temporal kingdom, and in the mean time reject himself, who came authorized with the testimony and approbation of God; you will receive honour one of another, but reject the honour that cometh from God only.

Learn, That such as ambitiously hunt after vain-glory and respect from men, do evidence themselves to be regardless of God’s approbation and acceptation.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

44. How can ye believe? This verse shows that unbelief is due to the moral condition.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

44. ὑμεῖς. Emphatic; ‘such men as you.’ It is morally impossible for you, who care only for the glory that man bestows, to believe on One who rejects such glory. This is the climax of Christ’s accusation. They have reduced themselves to such a condition that they cannot believe. They must change their whole view and manner of life before they can do so: comp. Joh 5:47. On πιστεῦσαι see on Joh 1:7.

π. τ. μόνου θ. From the only God, from Him who alone is God: whereas by receiving glory they were making gods of themselves. So that it is they who really make themselves equal with God (Joh 5:18). ‘The only God,’ as in Joh 17:3; 1Ti 6:16: ‘God only’ would be τοῦ θ. μόνου (Mat 12:4; Mat 17:8) or μόνου τ. θ. (Luk 5:21; Luk 6:4). The second δόξαν has the article, the first has not: they receive glory, such as it is, from one another, and are indifferent to the glory, which alone deserves the name. They pride themselves on the external glory of Israel and reject the true glory which God would give them in the Messiah. The whole should run thus, How can ye believe, seeing that ye receive glory one of another: and the glory which cometh from the only God ye seek not. Winer, p. 723.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

44.] πῶς δύνασθε (emphatic) is grounded on οὐ θέλετε—is the consequence of the carnal regards in which they lived.

λαμβάνοντες here implies ‘captantes’ also.

παρὰ τοῦ μόνου θεοῦ, not ‘from God only’ (E. V. and De Wette), which is ungrammatical (requiring μόνου to be either after θεοῦ, see Mat 4:4; Mat 12:4; Mat 17:8, or before τοῦ θεοῦ, Luk 5:21; Luk 6:4: Heb 9:7. Lücke); but from the only God: in contradistinction to the idolatry of the natural heart, which is ever setting up for itself other sources of honour, worshipping man, or self,—or even, as in the case alluded to in the last verse, Satan,—instead of God. The words τοῦ μόνου θεοῦ are very important, because they form the point of passage to the next verses; in which the Jews are accused of not believing the writings of Moses, the very pith and kernel of which was the unity of God, and the having no other gods but Him.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

44. The cause of the Jews’ unbelief is traced here to the desire for popular applause and favour. “All their works they do for to be seen of men” is a judgment on the Pharisees found in Mat 23:5. “They loved the glory of men more than the glory of God” is Jn.’s verdict about some who hesitated to acknowledge their belief in Jesus (12:43). But the saying recorded in this verse goes deeper. Faith, Jesus seems to say, is impossible in any vital sense for the man who measures himself only by human standards. He who has that vivid sense of the unseen, which is faith, instinctively seeks in his conversation and conduct to win the approval of God, in comparison with which nothing else seems to be important.

πῶς δύνασθε ὑμεῖς πιστεῦσαι, δόξαν παρὰ ἀλλήλων λαμβάνοντες κτλ.; ὑμεῖς is emphatic: “How can such as you believe, who think more of the honour that comes from men, than of that which God can bestow?” The true Jew, as Paul says, is on the other hand one “whose praise is not of men but of God” (Rom 2:29). Cf. the words of Mordecai’s prayer: “I did this that I might not prefer the glory (δόξα) of man to the glory of God” (Esth. 13:14).

For πιστεύειν used absolutely, the object of faith not being expressed, see on 1:7.

καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ μόνου θεοῦ οὐ ζητεῖτε. BW and (in one place) Origen omit θεοῦ, but it is certainly part of the true text. The archetypes would have had μονουθυου, from which θυ could very readily have been dropped.

The only δόξα worth having is that which comes from “the Only God” (cf. 1:14). For the phrase ὁ μόνος θεός, see 2Ki 19:15, 2Ki 19:19, Psa 86:10, Isa 37:20, Isa 37:2 Macc. 7:37, 4 Macc. 2:23 (and cf. Joh 17:3.Rom 16:27, Jud 1:25, Rev 15:4): the Jews were convinced monotheists. It is not upon the unity of God that Jesus here lays stress, but upon the fact that there is no other worthy Fount of honour. Cf. 8:54.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ye believe. Again the emphatic ye, the reason for the emphasis being given in the succeeding clause.

Which receive [λαμβανοντες] . Literally, receiving (as ye do) : seeing that ye receive.

Seek not the honor that cometh from God only [και την δοξαν την μονου θεου ου ζητειτε] . The Rev. gives it capitally, following the Greek order : and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not. Not God only, which entirely overlooks the force of the definite article; but the only God. Compare 1Ti 6:15, 16; Joh 17:3; Rom 16:27.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.