A House Divided

 John 7: 40-53

Who Is He?

⁴⁰ Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is the Christ.”

But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” ⁴³ So there was a division among the people because of Him. ⁴⁴ Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

Rejected by the Authorities

⁴⁵ Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”

⁴⁶ The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? ⁴⁸ Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹ “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

⁵² They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

⁵³ And everyone went to his own house.

We see the confusion among the Pharisees and officers of the chief priests, while Nicodemus tries to insert reason into a vindictive atmosphere.  So often we find ourselves in a conflicting world with temptation on every side, especially via the media or the internet.  These can be instruments for good, but also can woo us off the path into darkness and sin. As humans, we are weak and prone to making the wrong choices and create a divided house within ourselves that leads to unseemly behavior.  We ignore the teachings of Jesus.  However, he is always there to rescue us from our weakness and bring us back. May our digressions and falls remind us of our weakness and our need for him to save us from our folly.

Bro. Rene