John 7. You're a third of the way through John's gospel. Way to go for staying with us!
This is a great chapter for all those who believe Jesus was merely a great teacher who came to show us how to love each other. It's hard to actually read John or any of the other gospels and come to that conclusion. This chapter is all about whether or not Jesus was the Messiah, and it becomes increasingly clear that Jesus' real agenda was to focus all attention on himself and push people to make a decision about him. The place and time of his public appearances and the content of his teaching was focused on his claim to be the Son of God, and every time he speaks there is buzz about the unique authority of his teaching, about whether or not he really is the Messiah, about whether he qualifies, and about how dangerous he is to the religious and political establishment. Jesus' big question to the world was not, "do you love each other," but rather, "Who Am I?"
Chapter 7 also sees the return of Nicodemus. At the end of the chapter, the religious leaders are upset with the temple guards because they can't bring themselves to arrest Jesus--they're just like everyone else, seeing with their own eyes that he is more than just a man, and wondering whether he is the Son of God. Then one of the religious leaders says to the guards, "Do you see any of us believing in him?" Little does he know that one of their own does believe, but Nicodemus remains a secret disciple. He speaks up for Jesus, but only in a detached way.
As the ruling council feels increasingly threatened by Jesus, the vice will tighten on Nicodemus. Stay tuned for the rest of his story...
One interesting note: the Pharisees basically end the discussion with the declaration that since Jesus is from Galilee and not Bethlehem, that there is no way that Jesus could be the Messiah. Period.
ReplyDeleteThey are correct in stating that the Messiah was to come through Bethlehem and the line of David. However, they don't do their research.
All they had to do was ask Jesus, his mother, or his disciples where Jesus was from and they would have known he was the Son of David and a native of Bethlehem. For that matter they could have checked the register at Bethlehem. It seems that they are more than willing to claim ignorance to prove their point. "Don't confuse me with the truth, I have a point to make!"