New Living Translation
John 5:40
40Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.
John 5:40 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
- New International Version (NIV)yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
- English Standard Version (ESV)yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
Context of John 5:40
38and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you. 39“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life. 41“Your approval means nothing to me, 42because I know you don’t have God’s love within you.
Read all of John 5John 5:40 word by word
καὶ οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν πρός με ἵνα ζωὴν ἔχητε.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for John 5:40
- John 5:44No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.
- John 1:11He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.
- John 3:19And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
- John 8:45So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me!
- John 12:37But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him.
- Psalms 81:11“But no, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did not want me around.
- Isaiah 49:7The Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers: “Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will also bow low because of the Lord, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
- Isaiah 50:2Why was no one there when I came? Why didn’t anyone answer when I called? Is it because I have no power to rescue? No, that is not the reason! For I can speak to the sea and make it dry up! I can turn rivers into deserts covered with dying fish.
- Isaiah 53:1Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
- Matthew 22:3When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!
- Matthew 23:37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.
- Revelation 22:17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
- John 6:27But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”
- John 7:37On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!
- John 11:25Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
- Romans 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Commentaries on John 5:40
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 40And ye will not come to me - Though ye thus search the Scriptures, in hopes of finding the Messiah and eternal life in them, yet ye will not come unto me, believe in me, and be my disciples, though so clearly pointed out by them, that ye may have that eternal life which can only come through me.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 40And ye will not come - Though the Old Testament bears evidence that I am the Messiah; though you professedly search it to learn the way to life, and though my works prove it, yet you will not come to me to obtain life. From this we may learn: 1.that life is to be obtained in Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and he only can save us. 2.that, in order to do that, we must “come to him” - that is, must come in the way appointed, as lost…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 39-44Verses 39-44 The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their Scriptures, and that they had it, because they had the word of God in their hands. Jesus urged them to search those Scriptures with more diligence and attention. "Ye do search the Scriptures," and ye do well to do so. They did indeed search the Scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory. It is possible for men to be very studious in the letter of the Scriptures…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 39-40The fourth witness of Jesus was the Scriptures. The Old Testament pointed to the Messiah, and Jesus fulfilled its prophecies (see Luke 24:25–27).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 39-4239-42. Search the scriptures, &c.--"In the Scriptures ye find your charter of eternal life; go search them then, and you will find that I am the Great Burden of their testimony; yet ye will not come to Me for that life eternal which you profess to find there, and of which they tell you I am the appointed Dispenser." (Compare Ac 17:11, 12). How touching and gracious are these last words! Observe here (1) The honor which Christ gives to the Scriptures, as a…Read the comment
Topics related to John 5:40
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on John 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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