v 39 You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!
Here is one of the dangers to which we can easily succumb; a desire for knowledge rather than obedience to God. The Jewish leaders were very keen bible students, but they remained blind to knowing God Himself. They had plenty of knowledge, but it was knowledge for information sake, not for knowing the God to whom the scriptures pointed. They were so caught up with the minutiae of legalistic detail that they failed to see the point of it all. Knowledge for its own sake is worthless; In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul puts it this way ‘But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.‘ Being clever and knowing the history of the Old Testament, or the obscure theology of the New Testament, is no substitute for knowing and loving Jesus to whom the scriptures point. Studying the bible and understanding it is not the answer to eternal life unless we see and know the Jesus to whom it all bears witness.
Practising the presence of God takes us beyond academic knowledge, the cleverness of the scholar, into the realm of searching for, knowing, loving and obeying the Lord of Life.