41 “I do not receive honor from men. 42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.
Verses 41 to 47 move to a counterattack by Jesus against His accusers.
5:41
“I do not receive honor [glory] from [source] men.
Jesus did not seek the honor of man. He was not in ministry to receive public praise from men. His focus was on pleasing God. He was not ready to compromise who He was for political reasons. He did not have any personal reasons for condemning their volition.
The source of Jesus’ glory was the Father; it did not come from men or human origin. It was of no import whether men praised Him or not; His desire was the pleasure of the Father on His ministry.
5:42
But [strong contrast] I know you,
In contrast to Jesus’ absence of need for personal praise, the Jews on the other hand sought the praise of men.
that you do not have the love of God in you.
The leaders of Jesus’ day did not experientially love God although they claimed to love Him. True love for God should motivate people to find the Messiah in the Bible. However, Jesus’ scathing remarks rebuked them because they did not study the Word with pure hearts. They loved themselves rather than God.
All their knowledge of the Bible did not lead them to truth. Their root problem was a heart issue rather than a truth matter. Their pride kept them from coming to recognize the deity of Christ.
PRINCIPLE:
Negative attitude toward the Word can thwart genuine faith.
APPLICATION:
Without a proper approach to Scripture, people are vulnerable to false teachers. They cannot make the right connections to the Messiah. Many are susceptible to cultic teachers because imposters can manipulate Scripture for their own ends.
As Jesus would not accept human praise as the basis for His motivation, neither should we. This will prevent us from a valid ministry before God or fellowship with Him.
Dt 6: 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Many people do not truly love God. They only love their thinking about God.
