The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my heart and mind in John 7:52,
"Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a
prophet does not come out of Galilee."
This was the response of the Pharisees to one of their own, Nicodemus.
Nicodemus was a believer and the one Jesus spoke to earlier, when he
uttered the famous passage, "For God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life.", John 3:16.
Nicodemus had challenged his fellow Pharisees to hear Jesus out before
condemning him. We see the Pharisees engaging in finely parsing the
Scriptures, looking for any reason to reject Jesus. The scuttlebutt
among the crowd at the temple courts was, "How can the Messiah come
from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from
David's descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"
John 7:41-42. Their observation came from Micah's prophecy, "But you,
Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose
origins are from of old, from ancient times." Mich 5:2.
What the crowd was unaware of, as well as the Pharisees, was that
although Jesus had lived in Galilee, he was born in Bethlehem.
My thought this morning is that people will look for anything and
everything to reject Jesus Christ. Any seeming contradiction, anything
possibly unknown is enough for so many to reject Jesus Christ out of
hand. The reason for this was told by Jesus himself to Nicodemus, when
he went to visit him on that night, "This is the verdict: Light has
come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light
because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light,
and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be
exposed." John 3:19-20.
Here is the reality: many people prefer to cling to their sin rather
than turning from it to embrace Jesus Christ in faith. Theologians and
scholars with their cold and stale pursuit to discredit the
Scriptures, mockers and scoffers, charlatans who peddle a different
"Jesus" to gain a flock to fleece, etc. These all have one common
element. They have all chosen to cling to their sins, and pursue any
possible explanation of why Jesus was not who he said he was and
didn't do what he came to do.
Just as the Pharisees in Jesus day... nothing has changed in the last
two millennia. Any possible reason to reject Jesus Christ will do in
order for many to cling to their sin. You might think most would jump
at the chance of eternal life... how powerful is that hold sin has on
so many!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send
me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are
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respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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