32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
Jesus’ testimony was not second-hand testimony. He drew His teaching from His previous experience in eternity. He was a reliable witness of eternal things because He was God Himself in eternity.
32 And what He [Jesus] has seen and heard,
Because Christ came from the presence of God, He was able to testify what was there. He was in fellowship with the Father as the Son of God, and with that the two of them had eternal communication (v. 11).
The word “seen” refers to what Christ saw in His eternal existence as God (perfect tense). He had first-hand experience in the eternal state. A person who is a first-hand witness is a good witness in law. Hearsay is not valid evidence. A good witness reliably states with consistency what he has seen. Jesus had accurate knowledge of the Father. Christ has seen everything that can been seen.
The word “heard” refers to the historical fact of His mission (aorist tense). Jesus saw all that needs to be seen and could testify accordingly.
that He [Jesus] testifies;
A good witness is willing to testify what he sees. Jesus had first-hand information because He was eternal God (v. 31). He was willing to bear witness to divine viewpoint (v. 32). Jesus testified of no second-hand tale. He used no secondary source (Jn 8:12; 9:5).
When Christ stepped foot on earth, He came with the knowledge of who and what He was (Jn 7:46). The Son testified about His experience in His preincarnate state (Jn 5:19-20, 20). Jesus came into the world to testify of eternal things. He was the ultimate revelation of God.
Jesus taught with certainty. He did not put forward hypothetical ideas to be discussed. It is of what Jesus saw and heard as God in heaven that He bore witness to men. However, in His humanity He drew on direct knowledge and experience with the Father. He did not receive revelation; who and what He was, was revelation. His revelation, therefore, is extremely reliable because He had direct access to the Father when He existed in eternity. The Son had a primordial access to truth that He proclaimed in His humanity. His doctrine was the Father’s doctrine; these were equivalent doctrines.
“Testifies” is in the present tense. John wrote decades later about Jesus testifying. Jesus was to John still testifying at the moment of his writing those many years later.
and no one receives His testimony.
When Christ came with the clear message of who He was, people still rejected Him (Jn 1:11). “No one” is hyperbole. Some accepted Him but most rejected Him (next verse).
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus’ revelation to man was not second-hand revelation, because He was both God and man simultaneously.
APPLICATION:
Jesus was the source of His own revelation. He drew on direct knowledge with the Father. He did not receive what He knew from a second-hand source. What Jesus spoke came from His experience in heaven, in the presence of God. Since He had first-hand experience with eternal truth, He had the same knowledge as the Father. To believe in Christ is to believe in God.
Jesus came to claim His own things, but His own people rejected Him as the Messiah (Jn 1:11-12). The Jews as a nation did not receive Him as their Savior. Most people reject Christ as Savior today (1 Co 2:14; Eph 2:2; 2 Co 4:4).
