Today’s reading is a continuation of yesterday’s study. Jesus was teaching at the temple in Jerusalem. His profound wisdom and words had amazed the people. But He had also upset them and caused a division among them about whether or not He was the Messiah. In today’s reading the people were discussing the question of Jesus’ Christhood.
Verses 25-27 in The Message read,
“That’s when some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this the one they were out to kill? And here he is out in the open, saying whatever he pleases, and no one is stopping him. Could it be that the rulers know that he is, in fact, the Messiah? And yet we know where this man came from. The Messiah is going to come out of nowhere. Nobody is going to know where he comes from.”
This crowd has some things in common with people today, who decide they know what the Bible says rather than actually reading it for themselves. They use the “bible” to disprove anything that upsets them about Christianity. They assume they know, because they’ve heard it. They twist the scriptures and they take things out of context. They assume that action or lack of action of church leadership means that the church believes this or that.
That is what the crowd did. They assumed the Pharisees must have concluded that Jesus was indeed the Christ because they were allowing Him to speak publicly. The Pharisees, just like the rest of the people were divided in their opinion and in verse 30 of this chapter we see them decide to arrest Jesus.
It was and still is a common belief that the Christ would suddenly appear out of obscurity and that even he wouldn’t know He was the Christ. But Scripture doesn’t say that. The people were grasping at any argument to disqualify Jesus. In fact just a few verses later in verses 42 they reject Jesus as the Christ because they say, He was supposed to be from Bethlehem and everyone knew Jesus was from Galilee.
Have you missed Jesus as your Savior because you assumed things about Him instead of getting to know Him? Have you made decisions about who you think God is, rather than found out the truth of Him for yourself? Do you get your information about the Bible from teachers, pastors, devotionals, and blog authors or do you read the scriptures yourself? When is the last time you read the Bible? When is the last time you had a mutual conversation with God?
The people had the Messiah right there in front of them but their skewed perspective of scripture clouded them from the truth.
Verses 28-29 record Jesus response.
“So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”
Jesus said, “Yes, you know me and you know I’m from Galilee, but you don’t truly know me or where I’m from, because you don’t know Him who sent me.” If they understood that Jesus was here because the Father sent Him, that He was from the Father, then they would have recognized Him as God, Messiah, and Savior.
John 14:6-7 says,
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
You just can’t know God if you reject Jesus. They are one. To know Jesus is to know the Father and to know the Father is to know the Son. Jesus is God’s will made manifest. Every work of God was done through Christ. The Father wills it and the Son fulfills it. (John 1:1-4).
The Pharisees were trying to arrest Jesus, but they were not able to. It wasn’t time yet. Verse 31 reads,
“Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
The Pharisees and High Priests were getting really worried about the reaction of the crowd. Jesus was upsetting their neat little world by shining the light of truth into their web of lies and rituals. But Jesus told them a few things. Verses 33-34 reads,
“Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.”
The really confused the crowd and the Pharisees. They thought He was talking about going on the lam or going to teach Jews who lived in the Gentile world. He said, “You will seek me and you will not find me.” They wouldn’t find Him because they wouldn’t be seeking the truth. They would be seeking their idea of who Jesus was, while they waited for their idea of who the Messiah was to arrive. They wouldn’t remove their preconceived ideas to see the truth. Christ was there with them, and they couldn’t come to Him because they couldn’t remove their pride and submit to Him.
Have you submitted to Christ or have you sought a God of your own making? God promised that if you seek Him, you will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13 Deuteronomy 4:29). But you have to seek the truth, not your twisted version of who you want God to be. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). Seek the truth instead of your personal opinion and Jesus will reveal Himself to you. He is the only way to the Father. It is solely through Jesus that you can have life.
Don’t cloud the water with your opinions and ideas. Don’t let your knowledge of the Word be obscured by receiving it indirectly.