Bible Strands
John 5:40
yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem, directly responding to their assertion that the Scriptures testify about Him. He confronts their active refusal to approach Him personally despite their extensive scriptural study.
The words — The Greek θέλετε (thelete) means "you are willing," negated by οὐ (ou) "not" to state a deliberate refusal. The infinitive ἐλθεῖν (elthein) "to come" specifies the required action to obtain ζωὴν (zōēn) "life."
The thread — This pattern of rejection runs through John 1:11, where His own people do not receive Him, and John 3:19, where men prefer darkness to the Light. It mirrors the historical disobedience recorded in Psalms 81:11, where Israel would not obey.
Why it lands — The text asserts that eternal life is accessed only through personal approach to Jesus, not through independent scriptural examination. It requires readers to abandon reliance on religious knowledge and actively come to Christ to receive life.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
Cross-references
- John 3:19 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
- Psalms 81:11 But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- John 6:37 Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.
- Isaiah 49:7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”
- Isaiah 50:2 Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.
- Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
- John 6:40 For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
- John 7:37 On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
- John 8:45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!