#38 Top 40 New Testament Passages: What the Scriptures Are For (John 5:39-40)

“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life."  (John 5:39-40)

Jesus went to Jerusalem for one of the religious festivals ordained in the Law of Moses. While there Jesus healed a paralytic at the pool of Bethesda. The Jews were alarmed that Jesus broke the sabbath law to do no work, even works of healing. They persecuted Jesus. Jesus told them,

“My Father is still working, and I also am working.” (John 5:17)

The Jews were angry enough to want to kill Jesus. 

Here in this event in Jesus' life, we see division over how to faithfully live according to God's will. The Jews dedicated their lives to Torah observance, to keep faithfully every law and ordinance passed down to them by Moses. The Pharisees created a collection of more laws, called halakha or the walk, to assure in every situation the Jews would know how to live. They were totally devoted to the law revealed in the scriptures. 

Obedience meant blessing and life. Disobedience meant curse and death. God spoke to the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan to take possession of the Promised Land. God told them of blessings for their obedience.

If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:

Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.

Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.

Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. (Deuteronomy 28:1-9)

And God warned them should they break the covenant law.

But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees, which I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you:

Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.

Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.

Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

The Lord will send upon you disaster, panic, and frustration in everything you attempt to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until it has consumed you off the land that you are entering to possess. The Lord will afflict you with consumption, fever, inflammation, with fiery heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. The sky over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land into powder, and only dust shall come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed. 

The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out against them one way and flee before them seven ways. You shall become an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. (Deuteronomy 28:15-25)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

Jesus understands his persecutors, foe He himself is a Jew, raised by law obedient parents. His own parents believed, as the scriptures promise, that strictest obedience to the law leads to God's blessing. Obedience leads to life! And so Jesus says, "You search the scriptures because in them you believe you have life." (John 5:39)

But what Jesus' opposition fails to see is that the God they faithfully serve is standing before them in the person of Jesus. He is doing good works of healing and liberation in God's name. He is bringing hope to the people. Instead of glorifying God, as some did, His persecutors said Jesus had a demon and did miracles by the power of the devil. They could not believe that God would send someone who so clearly broke the law by healing someone on the sabbath! 

Jesus told them, "The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me." (John 5:36)

Jesus' blind persecutors believe that by following the scriptures they have life. Yet these same scriptures speak of the Messiah. They do not recognize the Messiah, even when God's anointed king has come to them in humility and servitude. Instead they are jealous of His popularity with the crowds. They are concerned that Jesus is leading Israel away from blessing and into curse. They despise the fact that Jesus associates with sinners and Gentiles. Prostitutes and tax collectors are among His friends. Their minds block out the truth. They cannot acknowledge that the God of Israel is doing something radically new in Jesus, something promised from long ago. In Christ, God is establishing the new covenant with Israel and with all who trust in Jesus. (Jeremiah 31:31)

The new covenant is not blessing through law observance, but eternal life in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Jesus almost seems to plead with His persecutors when He says, "The scriptures testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (John 5:39-40)

They refuse to come to Jesus and have life. Jesus came to this world so that we may have life and have it abundantly. The gift of life that Jesus brings is like a spring within the souls of believers gushing upward and overflowing! (John 4:13-14; 7:37-39) Life in Christ is new creation. Torah served its purpose in revealing God's will and God's plan to reveal Christ. The Law's time is fulfilled. A new era has begun with the dawn of Christ. 

Unfortunately, there are those who remain stuck in the past, unable to embrace the newness of life God is offering through faith in Christ. 

Jesus came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:11-13)

Today, the Church of Jesus Christ suffers division and is weakened. Our battles are often of the some kind that Jesus had with His persecutors. We disagree on how to live faithfully as servants of God. We bicker over the meaning and direction of our scriptures. And Jesus weeps as we tear His Church apart. Would that we might stop our arrogant battles over scripture and come to Jesus and gain life.

For the scripture exists to point us to Jesus Christ. Come to Him and drink deep of life!

Rivers of Living Water (John 7:37-39)