John 5:31-32

John 5:31-32

[31] If  bear witness  of  myself,  witness  not  true.  [32] another  that beareth witness  of  and  I know  that  the witness  which  he witnesseth  of  true. 

What does John 5:31-32 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Jesus had said that the Son can do nothing independently of the Father ( John 5:19; John 5:30). That includes even bearing witness. Jesus did not mean that if He said anything about Himself it must be false, though apparently some of the Jews thought He meant that (cf. John 8:13). He meant that the truthfulness of His claims about Himself did not rest on His own testimony exclusively. Jesus had said that He only said and did what the Father said and did. Therefore Jesus" witness about Himself must reflect the Father"s witness about Him. The "another" that bore witness about Jesus was the Father. Jesus was not speaking of the Father"s witness as essentially different from His own witness. He viewed His own witness as simply an extension of the Father"s witness since He always faithfully represented the Father"s will. [1]
Some students of John"s Gospel have thought that Jesus contradicted what He said here in John 8:14, but there He was speaking about His personal knowledge as the basis for His testimony about Himself. Here He was speaking about the Father"s witness to His identity.
"The witness of the Father may not be acceptable to the Jews; it may not even be recognized by them. But it is enough for Jesus. He knows that this witness is "true."... It is the witness of the Father and nothing else that brings conviction to him." [2]