St John 7: 40 – 52
When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, ‘This is really the prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’ But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not arrest him?’ The police answered, ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’ Then the Pharisees replied, ‘Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’ They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.’
Reflection
Should we not take pity on the Pharisees and their supporters who were so convinced that their religious understanding and interpretation was correct, and who had such disdain for the less educated ordinary people, that as a result their minds were closed so that they could not appreciate what God was offering in Jesus?
When we note how small and inter-connected the educated community will have been, is it not likely that they would have known full well that Jesus was born in Bethlehem even though he grew up in Galilee? But, no matter, Jesus was a threat to them, so they seized on any pretext to attack him. Ultimately it was unimportant whether Jesus came from Bethlehem or Nazareth what was important, crucial, was that he came from God – and to consider that was a challenge too far for people whose ingrained life-training prevented them from comprehending that what God was doing was different from what they were expecting and so prevented them from changing their minds.
“When the facts change, I change my mind – what do you do, sir?” is attributed to John Maynard Keynes; but it can take real courage to change and what should be understood as a sign of strength may be taken as a sign of weakness by those who do not want their own stated positions challenged. Alas, we live in dangerous times when too many people in positions of power and authority scrabble around for “alternative facts” rather than face up to the realities of our troubled world.
We can rejoice that, however diffidently, Nicodemus challenged the approach of his fellow Pharisees, just as Gamaliel did some time later (Acts 5: 34ff); may we have such insight and courage.
Prayer
May God give us grace and insight to understand what God is saying to us about Christian witness today and guide us to do whatever is appropriate to help our generation know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Amen.