You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. John 5:39-40
Vince Deegan, a friend of mine, alerted me to the power of John 5:39-40 about twenty years ago when were at church together. He recently sent me a brief additional insight he had that has led me to write this blog. Vince wrote:
There are some additional insights in John 5:39. Jesus exposed, very clearly, that eternal life was not at all a new thought among the Jews. Instead, eternal life was a common thought (and goal), and the very reason why they went to the Scriptures in the first place. So, the fact that the Jews were already looking for eternal life gives a very likely reason why He did not need to specifically use the word for when telling them to believe Him for the very everlasting life that they were already looking for. They were already searching for everlasting life. What they did not yet believe was that He was the only One who could give it to them, as He clarified in John 5:39-40.
When the Lord Jesus spoke of everlasting life, it was a present possession that lasted forever. It could never be lost.
That is not what the legalistic Jews were seeking. They were seeking what many Calvinists now call final salvation. In their minds, one did not obtain everlasting life unless and until he persevered to the end of his life keeping the commandments of God. They focused on the two greatest commands, to love the Lord and to love one’s neighbor. They thought that all who were good Jews at their death would gain everlasting life.
They were off in two ways: 1) they thought that law keeping, not faith in Christ, was the way to obtain everlasting life, and 2) they thought that everlasting life did not begin until they died.
The Lord Jesus clearly corrected them on the first point. He said, “but you are not willing to come to Me [i.e., believe in Me]i that you may have life.”
I wonder if He was not also correcting them on the second point. When He said, “that you may have life,” the implication is that the life begins at the moment of faith. Of course, that is crystal clear in verses like John 3:16; 5:24; 6:35, 37, 39, 47; 11:25-27; and 20:31. But, even in John 5:39-40, it is understood that whoever believes in Him has everlasting life.
Some Bible scholars say that there is no concept of eternal life in the Hebrew Scriptures. John 5:39-40 shows that to be incorrect. The Lord was speaking to people steeped in the OT. This was before the birth of the church. He referred to the Hebrew Scriptures and said that they searched them to find eternal life. They did not object because they indeed sought eternal life in the Tanakh.
Ever since Vince pointed me to John 5:39-40, they have been some of my favorite verses in my evangelistic toolbox. They help me keep grace in focus.
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iThe Lord equated coming to Him with believing in Him in John 6:35: “He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” Compare John 7:37 and Matt 11:28. To come after Him is a discipleship issue: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” See also Luke 14:27. (BTW, Matt 11:29 is a discipleship verse since the Lord was speaking of taking His yoke upon us and learning from Him, both discipleship concepts.)
