Is It Him or Not?

Confusion in Jerusalem about Jesus.

Whether it’s confusion or denial, today’s passage is full of misunderstanding regarding whether or not Jesus is the Christ (anointed one, messiah). Some people are hopeful. The Pharisees are fearful. Jesus himself almost seems to be instigating, though he certainly never strays from the truth.

But what might seem like instigating to one group (religious leaders seeking to maintain control and authority) is hope for another -

Come to me all who are in need!

John 7:25-53

Some people from Jerusalem said, “Isn’t he the one they want to kill? Here he is, speaking in public, yet they aren’t saying anything to him. Could it be that our leaders actually think he is the Christ? We know where he is from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he exclaimed, “You know me and where I am from. I haven’t come on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him. I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” So they wanted to seize Jesus, but they couldn’t because his time hadn’t yet come.

Many from that crowd believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man does?” The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about Jesus, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent guards to arrest him.

Therefore, Jesus said, “I’m still with you for a little while before I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you won’t find me, and where I am you can’t come.”

The Jewish opposition asked each other, “Where does he intend to go that we can’t find him? Surely he doesn’t intend to go where our people have been scattered and are living among the Greeks! He isn’t going to teach the Greeks, is he? What does he mean when he says, ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me, and where I am you can’t come’?”

On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted,

“All who are thirsty should come to me!
    All who believe in me should drink!
    As the scriptures said concerning me,
        Rivers of living water will flow out from within him.”

Jesus said this concerning the Spirit. Those who believed in him would soon receive the Spirit, but they hadn’t experienced the Spirit yet since Jesus hadn’t yet been glorified.

When some in the crowd heard these words, they said, “This man is truly the prophet.” Others said, “He’s the Christ.” But others said, “The Christ can’t come from Galilee, can he? Didn’t the scripture say that the Christ comes from David’s family and from Bethlehem, David’s village?” So the crowd was divided over Jesus. Some wanted to arrest him, but no one grabbed him.

The guards returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked, “Why didn’t you bring him?”

The guards answered, “No one has ever spoken the way he does.”

The Pharisees replied, “Have you too been deceived? Have any of the leaders believed in him? Has any Pharisee? No, only this crowd, which doesn’t know the Law. And they are under God’s curse!”

Nicodemus, who was one of them and had come to Jesus earlier, said, “Our Law doesn’t judge someone without first hearing him and learning what he is doing, does it?”

They answered him, “You are not from Galilee too, are you? Look it up and you will see that the prophet doesn’t come from Galilee.”

They each went to their own homes…

Prayer

God,

In the midst of confusion, it can be hard to know what to do. Sometimes, it’s even complicated by the fact that people on all sides can present things worthy of consideration. Sometimes I wonder if I’m just trying to avoid conflict by searching for good on every side. But then such things (different views) can really seem to make sense to me.

So help me, God: give me wisdom for making clear and good choices. I continue to appreciate John Wesley’s three simple rules to do good, do no harm, and stay in love with you. But as you know better than me, people get in the way!

So keep my eyes on Jesus! If possible, give me the same wit that he has to not stray from the truth and yet be held blameless.

By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.