Year 8, Day 253: John 5

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John 5 is once more about focus.  Jesus heals a lame man on the Sabbath.  Instead of being awed by the miracle – how many modern day Christians would give anything to genuinely see a healing miracle like this – the Jews get upset.  They get upset because Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  Could it be that they are jealous?  Sure.  Could it be that they were religious snobs stuck inside a box of their own thinking?  Sure.  Could it be that they were afraid?  Sure.  We don’t know why the Jews persecuted Jesus because of His compassion.  The reality is that they did and their focus was off.

Then, Jesus goes about showing the Jewish leaders what their focus should be like.  There is something He says to them that really caught my attention today and I don’t remember it catching my attention in the past.  Jesus says to them, “You search the scriptures because you think that you have eternal life in them.”  Whoa.  Those are some serious words that caused me to do a double-take.  I need to flesh that out a bit.

First of all, remember how the Jews of Jesus’ day decided upon salvation.  They were saved because they were the biological offspring of Abraham.  They were the people to whom the Torah was given.  Their mindset was that salvation belonged to them because they were who they were.  Their focus was on biology and genealogy, not their heart.  That’s Jesus’ point here.

What we must be careful to not get from this passage is that it is wrong to study scripture.  Of course, it is good to study scripture!  Jesus encourages the study of scripture.  Even in this chapter Jesus tells the Jewish leaders that the study of scripture should have pointed them to Jesus!  Jesus is all about studying the Word of God.

That being said, though, we should still be careful.  Our knowledge of scripture will not save us.  Our ability to recite scripture from memory will not save us.  Our ability to speak meaningfully about scripture will not save us.  In fact, Jesus is correct with what He tells the Jews.  Eternal life does not come from the study of scripture.

Scripture points us to Jesus.  Scripture helps us to understand God’s work in Jesus.  Scripture does not save us, it points us to the one being from whom our salvation comes: Jesus.  We can learn the lesson well from the Jewish leaders.  When we are looking for salvation, we should always turn our eyes upon Jesus.  Our salvation comes through Him by the grace of God the Father.

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