Another witness to Jesus" identity was the Father"s witness apart from Jesus" works. The form that this witness took as Jesus thought of it is not clear. Perhaps He meant the witness that the Father had given at His baptism. However, John did not narrate that event in this Gospel, though he recorded John the Baptist"s witness of it (cf. John 1:32-34). Probably Jesus meant the Father"s total witness to Jesus including Old Testament prophecies, prophetic events and institutions, including His witness at Jesus" baptism. He probably meant all of God"s anticipatory revelation about Jesus (cf. Hebrews 1:1). [1] Jesus probably did not mean the Father"s witness through the Old Testament exclusively since He mentioned that later ( John 5:39). Another improbable meaning is the internal witness of the Spirit ( John 6:45; 1 John 5:9-12). That idea seems too far removed from the present context. [source][source][source]
In spite of the Father"s witness Jesus" hearers had not heard it because of their unbelief. Unlike Moses and Jacob they had neither heard God"s voice nor seen Him ( Exodus 33:11; Genesis 32:30-31) even though Jesus" words were the Father"s words and those who saw Jesus had virtually seen God ( John 3:34; John 14:9-10; John 17:8). Furthermore God"s word did not abide in them, as it had in Joshua and the psalmist (cf. Joshua 1:8-9; Psalm 119:11). Jesus was the living Word of God, and these Jews had little time for Him. The Jewish authorities had not grasped the significance of God"s previous testimony concerning the Song of Solomon , which Jesus summarized here as threefold evidence. Jesus may have been implying that His critics were not true Israelites. They had not done what their forefather had done even though Jesus was a clearer revelation of God than the patriarchs had. [source][source][source]