Adam Clarke on John 5:33

Ye sent unto John - I am not without human testimony of the most respectable kind: - Ye sent to John, and he bare witness. There are several circumstances in John's character which render his testimony unexceptionable.

1. He is consulted by the very enemies of Christ, as a very holy and extraordinary man.

2. He is perfectly free from all self-interest, having declined making the least advantage by his own reputation.

3. He is sincere, undaunted, and so averse from all kinds of flattery that he reproves Herod at the hazard of his liberty and life.

4. He was so far from being solicited by Christ to give his testimony that he had not even seen him when he gave it. See Joh 1:19-28.