How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?
“you” is emphatic as was “I” in the preceding verse.
Jesus said that the Jews were desiring honor for themselves (#Jo 12:43, Mt 6:1) and that anyone who put their own honor above that of God could not possibly believe on the true Messiah. Morris says that, “The issue is the glory of self or the glory of God. It is an issue which divides men still.” (p.334)
Joh 12:43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
Mt 6:1 “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
McGarvey provides some further insight into the motives of the Jews: “Expecting one who would bring great honor to themselves by his triumphs over his foes, and seeing nothing of this kind to be expected from Jesus, they could not believe him to be the Messiah.” (TFG 208)
These Jews were proud of their intellect and their knowledge of the scriptures. They thought they had all the answers, but it was their own pride in their knowledge which precluded any acceptance of what God did apart from what they expected.
The trained mind outs the upright soul,
John Masefield, The Everlasting Mercy, 1936 edn., p.47
As Jesus said the trained mind might,
Being wiser than the sons of light,
But trained men’s minds are spread so thin
They let all sorts of darkness in;
Whatever light man finds they doubt it,
They love not light, but talk about it.