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John 5:31-40
Remember that we have been studying the book of John, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ According to John (The Beloved Disciple). And up till now we have heard the testimony of John and other Disciples. And that of John the Baptist, the Samaritan woman at the well, and many in her village.
We’ve skipped over a couple of testimonies; the royal official’s son was healed, and the man who lounged near the pool at Bethsaida. And we come to this point where Jesus is confronted by religious scholars and now has something to say about Himself.
John 5:31-40 (NLT) “If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved. John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.”
These religious scholars were those in the community who studied the Scriptures professionally, yep they were rabbis. And it’s interesting as we look at this passage what Jesus says about the local teachers. They believe that simply studying Scripture will save them from hell. And Jesus – refutes that without question.
It’s not enough to know about God, you have to come into relationship with God for salvation to be real – there’s simply no other way. And while studying Scripture is great, it cannot be a substitute for real relationship with Jesus.
Laura Holmes and George Lyons write this in the NBBC John 1 – 12: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. © 2020 Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City. p158.
“Jesus’ opponents expected the Scriptures to give them something Bible study could never grant – life (see Gal 3:21-4:7). Jesus’ ironic charge deepened when He claimed that His opponents studied the Scriptures diligently (eraurnate: ‘make a careful or thorough effort to learn’ [BDAG, 389]) but could not recognize the life-giving God in front of them.
The Scriptures’ proper role is to point those who study it to God in Jesus, not to take the place of the One who gives life.”
Do we study God’s Word and miss hearing His voice? That is the question we need to ask ourselves every time we open the Word. We need to ask God’s Holy Spirit to speak to us in a fresh and new way each and every time we open our Bibles. Weather we have read that particular Scripture for the first time or the 100th time, we need God’s Holy Spirit to speak to us that we would grow deeper in relationship with our Savior. It’s then that we can hear what Jesus says. Jesus tells us that life – real life – the life that God intended humanity to live, is the life we find in Him.