In John 5:39 (KJV), rehearsing the words of Jesus to his Jewish opponents, we read:
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Most modern translations read a bit differently; instead of the imperative “search,” one finds “You search.” The reason for this is not due to a textual variant in the manuscripts, but an ambiguity in the Greek term used, εραυνατε. This can be plausibly understood as either the imperative form of the verb, εραυνανω, as well as the second-person indicative active thereof as they are spelled the same.
Most modern translations (e.g. the NRSV) are correct in taking it as the indicative, since the phrase is immediately followed by a relative clause which gives the very reason the Jews search Scripture (i.e. because in them they think they have found eternal life); furthermore, since Jesus' next state is an affirmation that they testify of him, showing that his opponents failed to extract the essential truth and reasoning that Jesus is the promised Messiah and Son of God, their searching of the Old Testament notwithstanding. Such a clause (the Greek οτι clause) makes more sense if the term is indicative than imperative.
Notwithstanding, even allowing it to be imperative as some Protestant apologists wish for it to be (in an attempt to defend sola scriptura), the same accusation would hold against the Jews (viz. their failure to reason from Scripture the true identity of the Messiah). Thus, regardless of whether it is imperative or indicative, the message is the same--Christ's opponents, thinking they have received eternal life due to their study of Scripture do not, in reality, have eternal life because they have failed to extract from Scripture that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who grants or denies eternal life to people. However, there is nothing in this text that even hints at the concept of sola scriptura.
