John 5:39 - The Witness of Scripture
You pore over the Scriptures
The act of poring over the Scriptures indicates a diligent and thorough study. In the Jewish context, this refers to the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Tanakh, which includes the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus' time were known for their meticulous study of these texts. This phrase highlights their dedication to understanding God's word, yet it also implies a potential misdirection in their focus.
because you presume that by them you possess eternal life.
The presumption here is that the mere study and knowledge of the Scriptures could grant eternal life. This reflects a common belief among the Jewish leaders that adherence to the Law and the traditions could secure one's standing before God. However, Jesus challenges this notion by suggesting that the Scriptures themselves are not the source of life, but rather point to something greater. This echoes the theme found in Deuteronomy 30:15-20, where life is found in choosing to love and obey God, not merely in the letter of the law.
These are the very words that testify about Me,
Jesus asserts that the Scriptures testify about Him, indicating that He is the fulfillment of the prophecies and promises contained within them. This is a profound claim, as it positions Jesus as the central figure of the biblical narrative. Passages such as Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and Micah 5:2 are often cited as prophetic references to the Messiah, which Jesus fulfills. The testimony of the Scriptures about Jesus is a recurring theme in the New Testament, as seen in Luke 24:27, where Jesus explains to the disciples on the road to Emmaus how the Scriptures point to Him.
Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The central figure in this passage, addressing the Jewish leaders and pointing them to the true purpose of the Scriptures.
2. Jewish Leaders
The audience Jesus is speaking to, who diligently study the Scriptures but fail to recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of those Scriptures.
3. The Scriptures
Refers to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), which the Jewish leaders study in search of eternal life.
4. Eternal Life
The ultimate goal that the Jewish leaders seek through their study of the Scriptures.
5. Testimony of the Scriptures
The role of the Scriptures in pointing to Jesus as the Messiah and the source of eternal life.
Teaching Points
The Purpose of Scripture
The primary purpose of the Scriptures is to reveal Jesus Christ and lead us to Him. Our study should always point us to a deeper relationship with Him.
Diligent Study with the Right Heart
While diligent study of the Bible is commendable, it must be accompanied by a heart open to recognizing Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promises.
Eternal Life through Christ
Eternal life is not found in the mere study of Scripture but in the person of Jesus Christ, whom the Scriptures reveal.
Scripture as Testimony
The entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, serves as a testimony to Jesus Christ. Understanding this helps us interpret the Bible correctly.
Application of Scripture
As we study the Bible, we should seek to apply its truths to our lives, allowing it to transform us and draw us closer to Jesus.
Lists and Questions
Top 10 Lessons from John 5Who is known as the Father of English Hymnody?How do Christocentric and Christotelic interpretations differ?Does the Bible contain contradictions, and how reconciled?How can Christ's word dwell in you richly?
(39) Search the scriptures.--Better, Ye search the Scriptures. The question whether the mood is imperative or indicative, whether we have here a commandment to examine the writings of the Old Testament canon, or a reference to their habit of doing so, is one which has been discussed through the whole history of New Testament exposition, and one on which the opinion of those best qualified to judge has been, and is, almost equally divided. It is not a question of the form of the Greek word, for it may certainly be either. The English reader therefore is in a position to form his own opinion, and is in possession of almost all the evidence. He should observe that all the parallel verbs in the context are in the indicative--"Ye have neither heard" . . . "nor have seen" (John 5:37); "Ye have not His Word . . . ye believe not" (John 5:38); "Ye think that . . . ye have" (John 5:39); "Ye will not . . ye might have" (John 5:40). Why should there be a sudden change of construction in this instance only?
We find, then, this order of thought. (1) God has in the Old Testament witnessed of Me, but ye, with unreceptive hearts, have never heard a voice nor seen a shape of God (John 5:37). (2) Ye have not His word dwelling in you, or it would have witnessed of Me (John 5:38). (3) Instead of receiving the Scriptures as a living power within you, ye search and explain the letter of them from without (John 5:39). (4) Ye think they contain eternal life, and hence your reverence for them (John 5:39). (5) They really are witnesses of Me, and yet you; seeking in them eternal life, are not willing to come to Me that ye may have this life. . . .
Verses 39, 40. -
(d) The witness of the Scriptures. Verse 39. - Ye search the Scriptures. A large number of commentators, from Chrysostom and Augustine to Luther, Tholuck, Hengstenberg, M'Clellan, Luthardt, and Ewald, with the Authorized Version, regard this as an imperative command. This is grammatical, and corresponds to the language of Isaiah 34:16; but with Cyril, Bengel, De Wette, Meyer, Godet, Lange, Westcott, Plummer, Watkins, we think the whole context demands the indicative. The second clause, "because in them," etc., follows far more obviously upon an assertion than upon a precept. The "ye will not" that follows is far more in harmony with the indicative than with the supposed command. The Lord says, "You have a third great testimony to my claim, and yet you are not prepared to accept it." Ye search the Scriptures. The verb ἐρεῦναν is used (John 7:52; 1 Peter 1:11; Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 2:10) for minute, prolonged search. The kind of investigation which the rabbis spent upon the text and letter of the Holy Scriptures is a proverb, and led to the allegorical mystical meanings of the Genesisaras and other Hebrew literature. "Ye search the Scriptures" rather than the living Word, rather than the Divine meaning and message from the living God which they do contain. This is one term out of many which the Lord employed for the sacred literature which was the great heritage of the Hebrew people. Elsewhere he called it "the Law," "the Law and prophets," "Moses and the prophets," "your Law," "the wisdom of God." He admits their study, prolonged and eager, of the sacred writings, and he justifies the ground and motive of such search, viz.: because ye think in them ye have eternal life; or, ye shall have, or shall find, eternal life. Some powerful critics, like Meyer, urge that our Lord agrees so far with the Jews, that he sympathizes with their search, and that censure or ironical language would be inconsistent with the Saviour's reverence for the Scriptures. But the expression is very unusual on that hypothesis, "Ye think [or, 'imagine'] ye have in them," rather than "ye have through them." Surely our Lord is here condemning the superstitious idea that, in the mere possession of the letter, they were possessors of the eternal life; that, apart from the indwelling Word, apart from the heart of the message itself, some magical advantage was springing. Hillel, whoso view of Scripture may be expressed in a saying ('Aboth,' 2:8), "He who has gotten to himself words of the Law hath gotten to himself the life of the world to come," here differs utterly from the Lord, who, on the doctrine of Holy Scripture, takes ground similar to that which he had taken with reference to the temple and the sabbath. It is not the bare possession of the Scriptures, nor the prolonged examination of its mere letter, that is the condition of eternal life. "Search" which is originated and stimulated by a vague idea of the life-giving force of the letter, is illusive. We may think that in them we have eternal life, but our Lord would undeceive us. Moreover, from the depths of his own consciousness and knowledge of his own mission, he adds: And they are they which testify concerning me. This is one of the keynotes of New Testament teaching, viz. Christ's idea of the Old Testament, that it was a sketch or portraiture drawn in successive ages and on various material of himself - that it was an outline of great principles which he was about, not to rub out, but to fill in, not "to destroy, but to fulfil." The histories, the experiences, the ceremonial, the dynasties; the offices, the songs and prayers, the predictive and typical sorrows there depicted, were all prelibations and unconscious prophecies of himself. "They testify concerning me," and, together with my works and with my forerunner and, more than all, with my Father's own voice speaking and my Father's own face shining through all, they complete the manifold testimony to the fact that I have come to do his will, to work with him, to deliver, to restore, to give life, and to execute judgment also, when my hour is come. If this be so, then strange, inconsistent, and tragic is the ultimate issue - Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
You pore over
Ἐραυνᾶτε (Eraunate)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 2045: To search diligently, examine. Apparently from ereo; to seek, i.e. to investigate.
the
τὰς (tas)
Article - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
Scriptures
γραφάς (graphas)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 1124: (a) a writing, (b) a passage of scripture; plur: the scriptures. A document, i.e. Holy Writ.
because
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.
you
ὑμεῖς (hymeis)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.
presume that
δοκεῖτε (dokeite)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1380: A prolonged form of a primary verb, doko dok'-o of the same meaning; to think; by implication, to seem.
by
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.
them
αὐταῖς (autais)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Feminine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.
you possess
ἔχειν (echein)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.
eternal
αἰώνιον (aiōnion)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 166: From aion; perpetual.
life.
ζωὴν (zōēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2222: Life, both of physical (present) and of spiritual (particularly future) existence. From zao; life.
These
ἐκεῖναί (ekeinai)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Nominative Feminine Plural
Strong's 1565: That, that one there, yonder. From ekei; that one (neuter) thing); often intensified by the article prefixed.
are
εἰσιν (eisin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.
the [very words that]
αἱ (hai)
Article - Nominative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
testify
μαρτυροῦσαι (martyrousai)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3140: To witness, bear witness, give evidence, testify, give a good report. From martus; to be a witness, i.e. Testify.
about
περὶ (peri)
Preposition
Strong's 4012: From the base of peran; properly, through, i.e. Around; figuratively with respect to; used in various applications, of place, cause or time.
Me,
ἐμοῦ (emou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.
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