John 5:39-47 records a confrontation with the Jews who sought to kill Jesus. Jesus tells them in verses 39 and 40, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”
The Jews were keenly aware the Old Testament Scriptures taught that they were God’s chosen people. They rested on this fact while overlooking the prophecies (more than 300) that Jesus would come to be the Messiah. In verse 46, Jesus reminds them that Moses wrote of Him. “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.” See Deuteronomy 18:1819.
Jesus severely rebukes the Jews with this reminder. In effect He says, “Sure you believe Moses and the rest of the Old Testament when it fits what you want to believe.” He accuses them of searching the Scriptures for only what they want to find, not searching the Scriptures for the Truth found within.
Of course this incident centered on the Jews and their lack of understanding that God sent Jesus to fulfill the Old Law and bring about the New Covenant in His blood. However, we can be guilty of the same thing today. Although we have the benefit of the New Testament containing the Gospel’s Good News, we can also vainly search the Scriptures and not “come to Me” as Jesus wants.
Paul describes such people as, “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (II Timothy 3:7). Bible knowledge is necessary and we live in a time when the Bible could not be more available. Considering that many people have a Bible on their smart phones, I would guess more people are carrying the Bible today than at any time in history. Unfortunately, carrying the Bible does not necessarily mean one is following the Bible.
We must have the hearts and minds to read the Bible and learn what it says about Jesus and how we can come to Him “that we may have life.”
For the elders, Dave Benner