John 5:39-42 - Studying the Scriptures?

5:39,40

This is a severe warning for anyone who thinks that by studying the Scriptures alone we get eternal life. Now the Scriptures are the word of God, they do give life, but only if we read them with faith, with a humble and contrite heart. If we read them with pride, imposing our own views on them we will get nowhere. The Pharisees devoted much effort to studying the Scriptures, the respected the Scriptures, yet it did them no good.

For the Scriptures bear witness to Jesus. Remember too that this is the Old Testament that Jesus is referring to, for that is all they had. When we read the Old Testament we need to read it as pointing to Christ. If we are reading something in the Old Testament and don’t seem to be able to make sense of it we should try asking ourselves, “how does this point forward to Christ?”.

The tragedy is that if only the Pharisees had gone to Christ in faith they would have received life.

5:41,42

The Pharisees delighted in receiving the praise of men. This is something that we all need to be very careful with. It is perfectly good to show appreciation of one another, indeed we should do so, but we need to be on our guard if we find ourselves relying on, or living for, the praise of others.

The Pharisees based their judgements and assessments on what others thought. They were man centred rather than God centered. The world bases its judgement of religion in general, and Christianity in particular, from a purely man centered perspective. This is why their conclusions are utterly wrong. Now this does not mean that they never raise any valid points, nor ask interesting questions, but ultimately their judgement is bound to be wrong. Likewise, there are plenty in churches who assess things from a human point of view.

Is the love of God in our hearts? This is a basic question we need to ask ourselves. In assessing the views of someone else it should also be a fundamental question. Now I believe Catholicism is seriously wrong in many of its teachings, and I greatly value Calvinistic teaching, but a Roman Catholic who genuinely loves God is more likely to speak the truth than a Calvinist who doesn’t.