John 5:39

Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalThis is the keystone of the apostolic reading: Jesus declares that all the Scriptures 'testify of me' (v. 39), and 'had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me' (v. 46). The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms point to one Person — the Lord Jesus. John 5 also shows what it cost: from here 'the Jews sought the more to kill him... because he... said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God' (5:16-18). But Jesus' own answer is that 'the Son can do nothing of himself' — the Father dwelling in Him does the works (5:19, 30; 14:10): not a second God beside the Father, but the Father's Son, God manifest in flesh. The One of whom all Scripture testifies is the one God come as Saviour.

JewishJohn 5 records sharp conflict; the claim that all the Hebrew Scriptures 'testify' of Jesus is the fundamental Christian-Jewish divide. Judaism reads the Tanakh as God's covenant with Israel, not as pointing to Jesus.

CatholicChrist is the key to all the Scriptures, which find their meaning in Him (Luke 24:27); the Old Testament is read in light of the New (cf. the Catechism).

ProtestantA foundational text for Christ-centered interpretation — the Scriptures testify of Jesus; to search them apart from Him misses their goal (cf. Luke 24:44).

AcademicJohn 5 is pivotal in the Gospel's structure — the first major controversy and the unfolding of Jesus' relation to the Father; v. 39 (indicative vs. imperative 'search') and the scripture-witness theme are much discussed.