further." I can see little ground for this view. The Tvord " search" is never used in a bad sense in Scripture (1 Pet. i. 11.) The chief argument in favour of the " indicative" side of the ques- tion is the notorious Rabbinical custom of minutely scrutinizing and reverencing every syllable of Scripture. To this custom of honouring the letter of Scripture, while neglecting its spirit, many advocates of the "indicative" here think that our Lord referred. Brentius gives a full account of the length to which the Jews went in their reverence for the letter of Scripture, such as counting the letters of each book, etc., and thinks that this was in our Lord's mind. I cannot however agree with this view.
[In them ye think ye have eternal life.] In this sentence the first " ye" must be taken emphatically, as in the 33rd verse. " Think" does not imply that it was a doubtful point, or mere matter of opinion. It is rather, " Ye yourselves think, and think rightly, — it is one of the dogmas of your faith, — that ye have in the Scriptures the way to eternal life pointed out."
Chemnitius remarks, — "The words 'ye think' mean that common persuasion and opinion of all men concerning Scrip- ture, which, like an axiom in science, is established, firm, and certain."
Let it be noted that many Christians are just in the unsatis- factory state of the Jews here described. Like them, they " think," and hold it as a dogma of their creed, that they " have eternal life in the Scriptures." But, like them, they never read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest what Scripture contains.
Ecolampadius remarks, — "Scripture alone does not make a man any the better, nor even preaching, by itself, except by the Holy Grhost aiding. It is the peculiar otiice of the externa! Word to supply testimony ; but it is the Spirit of God alone that can make the heart of man assent."
[They are they which testify of me.] This sentence is a strong and weighty declaration of the value of the Old Testament Scriptures. It was to them exclusively, of course, that our Lord referred. He says, "they testify of me." In direct prophecies, in promises, in typical persons, in typical ceremonies, the Old Testament Scripture all through testifies of Christ. We read thein to very little purpose if we do not discern this.
Ferus remarks that there are three ways in which the Scrip- tures testify of Christ. (1.) Generally: they are as it were the voice of the uncreated Word, ever speaking to man in every part of them. (2.) In figures: the paschal lamb, the brazen . serpent, and all the sacrifices of the law were witnesses of Christ. (3.) In direct proj.hecies.