“The Father’s teaching does not live in you, because you don’t believe in the one the Father sent. You carefully study the Scriptures. You think that they give you eternal life. These same Scriptures tell about me! But you refuse to come to me to have that life.”

A person can diligently study Scripture and not be spiritually touched by Scripture. In point of fact, many scholars have devoted their lives to the study of Scripture and never truly believed what it says. For some, this happens because they approach Scripture from the point of view of the latest liberal perspective. Others may take the point of view of an older, more conservative theory. Whichever is the case, these scholars’ true commitment is not to Scripture, but to a lense they use to interpret Scripture. Their study is just of the words and events; the gospel message doesn’t reach them.

The Sadducees were the liberals of Jesus’ day and the Pharisees were the conservatives. Most of the scholars from both groups carefully studied Scripture, but failed to be spiritually affected by it. Instead of Scripture having the place of authority in their lives, the perspective they used to interpret Scripture had the place of authority. Jesus said of them, “You show great skill in avoiding the commands of God so that you can follow your own teachings!” (Mark 7:9).

Jesus knew that the Jewish leaders did not have the Word of God in them, because they did not accept Him for who He was. The Word of God as Scripture spoke of Jesus; the Word of God incarnate actually was Jesus. Since the Jewish leaders failed to accept Jesus, then they must have also failed to accept the Word of God as truth for eternal life.

Jesus’ message in our verse for today is a cautionary note for all of us. We should ask ourselves: where do my faith and my commitment actually lie? Do they lie with the Word of God as Scripture and with the Word of God incarnate, or do they lie with the trendy interpretations of mere human beings?

By John Huisman, friend of Bible League International