Caught up on the facts...
John 7:40-42, 52 (AMP)
Listening to those words, some of the multitude said, This is certainly and beyond doubt the Prophet! Others said, This is the Christ (The Messiah, Anointed One)! But some said, What? Does the Christ come out of Galilee? Does not the Scripture tell us that the Christ will come from the offspring of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived? [Psalm 89:3, Mic 5:2] ....(52) They answered him, Are you too from Galiliee? Search [the scriptures yourself], and you will see that no prophet comes (will rise to prominence) from Galilee.
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I'm not sure exactly how to approach this post, but when I read this passage this morning, I was struck with the insight that these people were caught up with the facts. I imagine the speakers who doubted Jesus being the Christ were pretty educated, as they knew what the scriptures said about where the Christ will come from. Unfortunately, they didn't have ALL of the facts, and in this case, their knowledge hindered their ability to believe.
I try picturing myself back in these settings and I find myself convicted with the pharisees and the doubters who were caught up in their knowledge. Knowledge of the prophecies, knowledge of the laws... And from an outside perspective, they were pretty good at their legalism, but Jesus wasn't impressed. While man looks at the outward appearance, Jesus/God looks at the hearts (Gal 2:6).
It seems the pharisees & educated made decisions and judgements based on appearances, but Jesus says to "be honest in your judgement and do not decide at a glance (superficially and by appearances); but judge fairly and righteously" (John 7:24).
Where am I going with this?
My question is this - How often are we caught up on the facts and hindered in faith because of one thing we "know" or what we see? And because we think we know the answer, we don't look any further...
I considered going through some examples, but instead, I just challenge you to look closer at the areas in your life that you are struggling to believe and have faith... Don't let yourself get caught up on the facts, but look deeper... Look at the heart, the root...
PS. While these educated speakers in John knew "the facts", they missed out on the detail that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and that he actually fulfilled all of the prophecies about "the Christ"... We are blessed to have our Bibles that helps lay it all out for us so that we can understand more clearly, but even with that, there comes a point when you must just believe...
Listening to those words, some of the multitude said, This is certainly and beyond doubt the Prophet! Others said, This is the Christ (The Messiah, Anointed One)! But some said, What? Does the Christ come out of Galilee? Does not the Scripture tell us that the Christ will come from the offspring of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived? [Psalm 89:3, Mic 5:2] ....(52) They answered him, Are you too from Galiliee? Search [the scriptures yourself], and you will see that no prophet comes (will rise to prominence) from Galilee.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure exactly how to approach this post, but when I read this passage this morning, I was struck with the insight that these people were caught up with the facts. I imagine the speakers who doubted Jesus being the Christ were pretty educated, as they knew what the scriptures said about where the Christ will come from. Unfortunately, they didn't have ALL of the facts, and in this case, their knowledge hindered their ability to believe.
I try picturing myself back in these settings and I find myself convicted with the pharisees and the doubters who were caught up in their knowledge. Knowledge of the prophecies, knowledge of the laws... And from an outside perspective, they were pretty good at their legalism, but Jesus wasn't impressed. While man looks at the outward appearance, Jesus/God looks at the hearts (Gal 2:6).
It seems the pharisees & educated made decisions and judgements based on appearances, but Jesus says to "be honest in your judgement and do not decide at a glance (superficially and by appearances); but judge fairly and righteously" (John 7:24).
Where am I going with this?
My question is this - How often are we caught up on the facts and hindered in faith because of one thing we "know" or what we see? And because we think we know the answer, we don't look any further...
I considered going through some examples, but instead, I just challenge you to look closer at the areas in your life that you are struggling to believe and have faith... Don't let yourself get caught up on the facts, but look deeper... Look at the heart, the root...
PS. While these educated speakers in John knew "the facts", they missed out on the detail that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and that he actually fulfilled all of the prophecies about "the Christ"... We are blessed to have our Bibles that helps lay it all out for us so that we can understand more clearly, but even with that, there comes a point when you must just believe...
This is SO good.
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