John 5 - CSB Spurgeon Study Bible

5:6 “When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” The great Physician fixed his eye on him, for his was an extraordinary case. Probably he was known and talked of as the man who had been paralyzed thirty-eight years. Note that it does not say, “When the man saw Jesus,” but, “When Jesus saw him.” He did not know Jesus. Possibly he had not even heard of his healing power and compassionate love. He was not seeking Jesus, but Jesus was seeking him.

5:44 “How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?” The mere fact of receiving honor, even if that honor is rightly rendered, can make faith in Christ difficult. We can come to feel that we are something when others honor us, and this is dangerous, for we won’t believe in Jesus until we know we are nothing in and of ourselves. If others praise us, if they dwell on our good points, if they pay respect to our position, if they notice our abilities and talents, we are apt to think there should be some special way to heaven for us because we are so respected. And when the gospel says, “You must be saved as a sinner or not at all. You must give up all claims of merit and all reliance on what you can do, or else you never can be saved,” then, in all probability, the mere fact of our having received honor from other people will render it the more difficult for us to believe a doctrine that gives no honor to people but stains the pride of all glory and casts human excellency into the dust.

Moreover, that same spirit that makes us love the praises of people makes us dread their threats. We cannot be pleased with the adulation of others without becoming fearful of their censure. It is a perilous thing to taste of human honor. To despise it utterly is the only way of bearing it without being injured by it. For I say again, delight in the praises of others saps the foundations of a person’s vitality. Delight in the praise of people takes us away from following after the glory of God and makes us afraid of following the truth if it costs us ridicule and reputation.