John 5:39 - Printer Friendly

ESV: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

NIV: You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,

NASB: You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me;

CSB: You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.

NLT: You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!

KJV: Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

NKJV: You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

Verses 39 and 40 summarize a crucial point about the difference between faith and belief. A person who refuses to believe cannot be convinced, no matter what evidence they are given (John 5:40). In verses 37 and 38, Jesus criticized the local religious leaders for never hearing the voice of God. They are rejecting Jesus and His message (John 5:18) because they are unwilling, not because they are uninformed.

This is a key idea to consider when discussing ideas such as evidence, proof, and faith. The Bible never calls on anyone to express "blind faith," which is belief without evidence. In this very passage, Jesus is responding to criticism by giving three separate forms of evidence. He has mentioned human testimony (John 5:33) and direct observation—in the form of His miracles (John 5:36). Now, He is referring to the evidence of God's written Scripture. And yet, for some, this is not enough and never will be.

This is why God does not offer "proof" to all people: it won't necessarily produce obedience or trust. Simply knowing that God exists does not mean obedience will follow (James 2:19). Having knowledge does not always mean trusting in God, as Israel's own disobedience showed (Numbers 14:20–23; Nehemiah 9:16–17; Psalm 78:11–12). And, here, the fact that the Pharisees were knowledgeable in the Scriptures did not necessarily mean they were willing to accept Jesus (John 7:17).

Verse 40 will show the real problem behind the disbelief of these religious hypocrites, which is also the basic problem with all who reject Jesus Christ: they do not believe because they will not believe. No amount of proof is enough to overcome that.

John 5:30–47 continues Jesus' response to His critics in Jerusalem. After healing a crippled man on the Sabbath and claiming to be equal with God, Jesus now speaks about evidence. Rather than simply saying, ''have faith,'' or ''believe Me because I said so,'' He offers reasons why He should be believed. These include human testimony, the miracles He is performing, and the words of Scripture. Jesus also makes the point that those who reject the prior words of God—the Old Testament Scriptures—aren't going to believe in Christ, no matter what.

Jesus again returns to Jerusalem, as required for the various feast days. While there, He heals a man who had been crippled for nearly forty years. Since this occurred on the Sabbath, local religious leaders are angry—more upset with Jesus for working on the Sabbath than amazed at His miracle. In response, Jesus offers an important perspective on evidence. Jesus refers to human testimony, scriptural testimony, and miracles as reasons to believe His declarations. Christ also lays claim to many of the attributes of God, making a clear claim to divinity.

Chapters 1 through 4 showed Jesus more or less avoiding publicity. Here, in chapter 5, He will begin to openly challenge the local religious leaders. This chapter is Jesus' first major answer to His critics in this Gospel. The fact that Jesus is willing to heal on the Sabbath sets up a theme of His upcoming disagreements with the Pharisees. Jesus also provides important perspective on the relationship between evidence and faith, which He will expand on in later chapters. This chapter also establishes a key point made by Jesus' critics: His claims to be God.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.