Key Verse: “You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me. But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40 CSB)
For many Christians, the role or influence of the Bible is increasingly being diminished. In many cases, a book that once held a prominent place in their lives has now been regulated to a shelf to collect dust. But does it even matter? What should be the proper place of the Scriptures in our lives as followers of Jesus?
In His reply to the Jewish leaders, Jesus provides both a helpful encouragement and a warning about how and why we should approach the Scriptures. According to Jesus, the Jewish leaders were people of the Book. Evidently, it was their practice to “pore over the Scriptures” (v.39). As faithful Jews, they searched carefully the Old Testament writings. They studied them diligently. And in most cases, they committed large portions of the Scriptures to memory.
This is the proper posture or attitude we should take to the Scriptures. Like the Berean believers in the early church, we ought to be known as people who “received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). We ought, “to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it” (Joshua 1:8). Is that how you approach the Scriptures? Are you diligently reading and meditating on all God has said?
Jesus also provides an important warning for us as we approach the Scriptures. He said to the Jewish leaders, “You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me. But you are not willing to come to me, so that you may have life” (v.39-40). What they had failed to realize is that the Scriptures that they so diligently studied were ultimately pointing to Jesus. In Him was eternal life if they were willing to come to Him.
The danger we must avoid is approaching the Scriptures as the end goal, rather than the means to the end. The point of the Scriptures is not simply to fill our minds with information about God. It’s not about a check mark. God has given us His sacred words “to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 3:15). They have been given to us by God in order to point us to Jesus. It’s ultimately about our transformation through faith in Him.
All of Scripture ultimately testifies about Jesus. Whether it was God’s words in the Garden of Eden that He would one day strike the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15), or His promise to Abraham that all of the nations of the earth would be blessed by his offspring (Genesis 22:18), or all that the prophets spoke about the One who would come (Micah 5:2, Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 7:14, Jeremiah 23:5), it was ultimately all pointing to Jesus. They were looking ahead and testifying to what God would do through Him.
On the day of His resurrection, Jesus appeared to two of His disciples as they walked along the road to Emmaus. Before they realized it was Him, Jesus, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all of the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). He showed them how all of the Scriptures ultimately testified about Him.
Today, as we pore over the Scriptures and study them diligently, let us keep Jesus front and centre where He belongs. Invite the Holy Spirit to use the Scriptures to draw you closer to Him today.
Prayer: Thank you God for the gift of the Scriptures, which are able to make me wise to salvation through faith in you. Help me to be diligent and disciplined in poring over the Scriptures. As I do, help me to see you, Jesus, more clearly and to become more like you. Amen.
Author: Jonathan Miller has served in pastoral roles for more than 13 years in churches in Barrie, Oakville and Burlington, Ontario. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Prison Fellowship Canada, a ministry that mobilizes and equips local churches to engage in the restorative work of prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families, and victims across Canada. Jon holds degrees from McMaster University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife Adrienne have been married since 2004, and live in Burlington, Ontario with their 4 children. Jon’s greatest passion is to know Jesus and to see lives transformed by Him and for Him.
