John 5:39-40 39You search the Scriptures because you think that in them to have eternal life; and those are what testify about me; 40yet you do not want to come to me so that you may have life.
The Jewish leaders thought they knew their Bibles. They wen to their Bible studies and came up with their interpretations. They even had professional scholars known as scribes. By Jesus’ time, the Hebrew canon was mostly accepted as we have our Old Testament today, though some books had not been divided into two. The canonization was formally acknowledged only a few decades later at the Council of Jamnia around AD 90. No doubt, all the texts were easily available in the Temple for Jews to read and study. There were plenty of rabbis who offered their interpretations. No shortage of Bible reading existed at the center of first-century Judaism.
The Jews made one major mistake in their study of the Scriptures. They thought that by obeying the minute aspects of the laws, particularly as they interpreted the laws through their oral teaching, they would receive eternal life. They got caught up in the doing without the being. Their faith had become all about appearance instead of the heart. They believed by showing their fervency to study, memorize, and then keep the laws that somehow they would be pleasing to God. Jesus corrects this misuse of Scripture. The Jews should have allowed the Scriptures to change their hearts and lead them to repentance.
Verse 39 contains the significant thought that the Scriptures testify about Jesus. The Jews should have known and understood the prophecies about the Messiah, but they got lost in their own thinking. Other passages in John refer to Jesus fulfilling Scripture (1:45; 2:22; 3:10; 5:45–46; 20:9). The Old Testament points to Christ. People have attempted to count all the prophecies Jesus fulfilled, coming up with anywhere from 300-500. The New Testament is full of quotes and allusions to how the Hebrew Bible points to Jesus. Jesus came to fulfill the Law, Prophets, and Writings (Matthew 5:17; Romans 10:4).
The Jews in Jerusalem had missed the point of their Bible. They had misused it for their own purposes and did not see the deeper message. The Old Testament ends with the problem of the sinful human heart unsolved but looked forward to it through the coming new covenant. To those with faith, the message is clear. For those with pre-occupations and clouded vision, the message is distorted or missing. The problem of the Jews of that day is still prevalent today. Even among so-called Christian preachers, the message of Jesus is distorted by selfishness, profit, or influence. The authority of the Bible is not as widely recognized or valued as it was at times in the past. For those who seek Jesus in faith, the Bible’s message makes sense and is clear.
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