Check It Out For Yourself...
The Gospel of John
John Chapter 7
Scripture: John Chapter 7:40-42, 52 (Contemporary English Version)
40When the crowd heard Jesus say this, some of them said, "He must be the Prophet!"41Others said, "He is the Messiah!" Others even said, "Can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn't this mean that he will be born in David's hometown of Bethlehem?"
52Then they said, "Nicodemus, you must be from Galilee! Read the Scriptures, and you will find that no prophet is to come from Galilee."
52They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself--no prophet ever comes from Galilee!" (New Living Translation)
Observation: These verses are fascinating when you see the dynamics of what is taking place in John chapter 7. Everyone is trying to decide who Jesus is and what he should do. Even his own brothers are trying to tell him what he should do with his ministry. If he is the Messiah he should… It is interesting that it comes down to his pedigree, his birthplace and his family tree. There is a debate that since he is from Nazareth in Galilee he just cannot be “the one.” I wonder what his brothers were thinking when this debate was going on? None of them stepped up and said, “Well to tell you the truth, Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem, we are the ones born in Galilee and actually both our father and our mother are from the lineage of David.” This just didn’t happen and it is amazing to me that nobody bothered to even ask Jesus or check out the circumstances of his lineage and birth. Perhaps his brothers really didn’t know but why didn’t anybody bother to check the facts? I also noted verse 52 in this chapter because here we see Nicodemus challenged to look into the scriptures himself. Evidently he did check things out because he is there in John 19:39, helping to bury Jesus. Nicodemus is there, loyal to the end. His life was changed because he bothered to look into the facts for himself (John 3:1-21; 7:50-52).
Application: Do we believe because of others persuasive words or because we have searched out the facts for ourselves (see Acts 17:11-12)? Have I gone to Jesus myself with my questions or settled for the opinions of men (see James 1:5-8; Hebrews 8:10-11)? We have the Holy Spirit who will teach us the truth (see John 14:26) but we have to ask for ourselves. Don’t be afraid to ask for your answer might be just one question away (see Luke 11:9-13; I John 5:14-15)!
Prayer: Oh Light of the World, may I seek your face each day. Show me your glory, teach me your truth. Lord Jesus, I want to sit at your feet and learn from you. I know that your Word contains all life and wisdom. May I search daily to know you. May I not settle for second hand opinions when true intimacy has been so graciously offered to me.
