“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Jesus has just spoken of the judgment placed in His hands, and here He gives the ground for it. He does not point to who He is; He points to a life in which He never once acted on His own.
"I Can Do Nothing on My Own"
The words sound like a limit on Him. Commentators read them instead as the place the Son took as Man — the very place that fits Him to judge.
William KellyHe was equal to the task of judging, though He was the lowliest of men. This was so just because He was never independent of the Father in any of His ways or thoughts. This is the perfection of man, and He alone was like this… He had a will, but He held it in complete subjection to the Father. He saw whatever the Father does, so as to do the same. Morning by morning His ear was open and awake, listening like one who is taught. So He judged, and His judgment was just.
One writer notes what the Lord did not say. He could have based His right to judge on His own Person, and that would have been true.
F. B. HoleHe could have said, "My judgment is just, because I am the Word who became flesh." That would have been completely true. But He rested His claim on something else: "because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent Me." All judgment is safe in the hands of a Man like this.
Where the Hearing Comes From
"As I hear, I judge" raises a question: hear from whom? The answer also reaches forward to a judgment still to come.
The Christian's FriendIn our judgment there is no doubt about this. When the Lord says, "As I hear, I judge," He means hearing from the Father, not from man… He holds authority to judge all who will come before the great white throne — all the unconverted dead of every age and era. He will act in communion with the Father, and in dependence on Him. Every sentence He passes will be the expression of the mind of God, for the very reason that as He hears, He will judge.
Why the Judgment Is Just
Two things bend a verdict: pressure from other people, and the judge's own stake in the outcome. Neither touched Him, and the contrast with us is uncomfortable.
Hamilton SmithIt was the testimony of One Who had taken the place of the perfectly dependent Man. In keeping with this place He could do nothing of Himself. Behind His testimony there was the hidden life of communion with the Father and dependence upon the Father… His judgment was not formed from what He heard from men, nor warped by seeking His own will. Too often our judgments are faulty. Other people sway our minds, and our own wills push us.
Only One Person Could Say This
Words like these seem to make Him small. In fact they show who He is, because no ordinary man could say them and speak the truth.
An Outline of Sound WordsWhere every other man sought to do his own will, the Son of the Father sought only the Father's will. Yet this very obedience brought out the perfection of the Son and showed who He was. He said, "I can do nothing on my own." No one else could say this. Only One who knew His relationship with the Father in the unity of the Godhead could speak like that… He looked at everything and judged it by the will and glory of His Father, not by how it affected Himself. This necessarily made His judgment just. It stood in sharp contrast to the Jews, who viewed everything in relation to their own interests.
The Pattern for Our Own Path
Here the Lord speaks as Man. So the verse does more than teach us about His Person. It maps out a way to live.
George CuttingWhat marked the path of Jesus as Man here on earth? There is no shadow of doubt about the answer. Two things marked His whole course in absolute perfection — OBEDIENCE and DEPENDENCE. At every step He showed this: the path of humble obedience is the way of holiness, and dependence is the true secret of strength.
Set beside that path, our instinct to run our own lives shows up for what it is:
J. A. TrenchHow total the contrast to our poor miserable independence and self-seeking.
Summary
- Dependence — "I can do nothing on my own" is not weakness. It is the place the Son took as Man. He was never independent of the Father in any way or thought.
- Hearing — His judgment comes from listening to the Father, not to men. Morning by morning His ear was open.
- Justice — No self-interest and no human pressure touch His verdict. So every sentence He passes expresses the mind of God.
- Glory — Only One who knows His relationship with the Father in the unity of the Godhead could say He can do nothing of Himself. The obedience reveals who He is.
- Imitation — Obedience is the way of holiness and dependence is the secret of strength. The verse exposes our independence and shows a better path.