Tag Archives: temple guards

AN EFFECTIVE BARRIER TO TRUTH

Bible Study, ,

AN EFFECTIVE BARRIER TO TRUTH

“Finally, the temple guards went to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring Him?’ ‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards replied, ‘You mean He deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted. ‘Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him? No, but this mob that knows nothing of the law – there is a curse on them.’

“Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ‘Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.'”

“Then they all went home.” John 7:45-53 (NIV).

Ugh! These men are obnoxious!

They sent temple guards to arrest Jesus, but the guards could not bring themselves to do it. His words fascinated and mesmerized them. They had never heard anyone speak as Jesus spoke. They returned to the religious rulers and Pharisees empty-handed who were so sure of themselves that they dismissed them with withering contempt.

These men held themselves up as the measure of truth. Since none of their number had believed in Jesus (perhaps Nicodemus had kept his night-time visit to Jesus a secret), of course Jesus was a trickster and a fraud! The temple guards were taken in by Him because they were just part of the gullible mob, according to them

Nicodemus put in a rather weak protest, appealing to his colleagues at least to give Jesus a hearing, but his was a lone voice trying to get a fair deal for Jesus. His plea was swept aside with the same arrogant dismissal as the guards received.

Why did these men stick so tenaciously to their opinion of Jesus that they were not even prepared to give Him a hearing?

Their first argument was the typical everybody’s-doing-it reason. Since all of them (except Nicodemus, and he was of no consequence to them), dismissed Jesus as a fraud, that made them right. Their confidence was based on the flimsy premise that majority opinion must be the truth.

Unfortunately, in God’s eyes this kind of reasoning does not hold water. Even if the whole world chooses to believe lies, that does not make it the truth. Billions of people follow false religions, sincerely believing that they are right and even being willing to murder to defend their beliefs but that still does not make lies the truth.

Secondly, they clung to their superficial reason for rejecting Jesus because they refused to investigate the evidence. What were they afraid of? Would they have changed their minds about Him if they found out the truth? I don’t think so. This was not about Jesus; this was about them. It would take honesty and humility to listen to Jesus and to take Him seriously and they were not prepared to do that because they would have to forfeit their status in the community and bow to Him.

We may not think we are like the Pharisees but deep in every heart there lurks the pride that cuts us off from God. “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.”  Humility is the only attitude that opens the door to revelation from God. Jesus told His hearers that, if anyone genuinely wants to know the truth, he will be able to discern the source of His teaching – from God or from Himself.

Once again, this conflict opens up new understanding about God, about us and about the depravity of our own hearts. My plea is that we put aside our right to be right and examine the evidence. We have only one source of truth – the Word of God. He has graciously given us an infallible point of reference to keep us on track. If we are humble enough to say, ‘I don’t know,’ we will be on the way to finding out the truth.

Let’s use it!

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

HIS YOKE IS EASY

Bible Study, ,

HIS YOKE IS EASY

“The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about Him. Then the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest Him. Jesus said, ‘I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am you cannot come.’ The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find Him? Will He go where our people live scattered among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?’

“‘What did He mean when He said, ‘When you look for me you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?'” John 7:32-35 (NIV).

Jesus was such a cool customer and the religious leaders were so flustered! They did not realise that they couldn’t arrest Him; try as they may, because His time had not yet come.

His cryptic words had them really confused. They did not like the people’s interest in Him. The situation was getting dangerous and they were losing their power and influence over them. It had to be stopped and yet they could not get Him into their clutches.

What was Jesus telling these spiritual leaders of Israel? Compare His words with the words He spoke to His disciples in the Upper Room on the eve of His death.

“‘I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.'” John 14:2b-4 (NIV).

Why did He say to the Jews, ‘Where I am you cannot come,’? And yet He told His disciples that He would come and take them to where He was? It all sounds so confusing unless we understand the difference between the reception the Jews gave Jesus and the attitude of the disciples.

It’s about that little word, “believe” again. Believing is more than giving intellectual assent to a fact. In Hebrew thought, to believe something intellectually without acting on it was a useless and meaningless exercise. To believe meant to take seriously and act on what one believes. To believe what Jesus said was to take Him seriously and do what He said.

How many “believers” are there who give intellectual assent to Jesus as Lord but continue to live their lives as though He does not exist? This attitude has sullied the credibility of the church and misrepresented what it is, a living organism, the body of Christ, not an organisation. Jesus gave us two criteria for credibility in the eyes of the world; the love we have for one another that proves that we are His disciples and our unity which witnesses to the fact that He was sent by the Father.

Jesus did not call us to be rigid followers of doctrine but loyal followers of our Master. He gave His life rather than break the unity between Himself and the Father and yet so many of us are too busy fighting to be right than following Him. There are three responsibilities of the believer that will make us credible followers of Jesus:

1. To protect love;

2. To preserve unity;

3. To promote contentment.

I yearn for a return to the simplicity of Jesus’ invitation: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew11:28-30 (NIV).

He is telling us, the young, inexperienced “oxen” to join Him, the old, experienced “ox” in His yoke (His way of doing life) so that He can teach us how to live burden-free in a relationship of loving union and submission to Him!

The Jews refused. Will you believe and be joined to Jesus?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

An Effective Barrier Against Truth

Bible Study, , , ,

AN EFFECTIVE BARRIER TO TRUTH 

“Finally the temple guards went to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring Him?’ ‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards replied, ‘You mean He deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted. ‘Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him? No, but this mob that knows nothing of the law — there is a curse on them.’

“Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ‘Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.'”

“Then they all went home.” John 7:45-53 (NIV).

Ugh! These men are obnoxious!

They sent temple guards to arrest Jesus, but the guards could not bring themselves to do it. His words fascinated and mesmerized them. They had never heard anyone speak as Jesus spoke. They returned empty-handed to the religious rulers and Pharisees who were so sure of themselves that they dismissed them with withering contempt.

These men held themselves up as the measure of truth. Since none of their number had believed in Jesus (perhaps Nicodemus had kept his night-time visit to Jesus a secret in case he was dismissed with the same disapproval as the temple guards), of course Jesus was a trickster and a fraud! The temple guards were taken in by Him because they were just part of the gullible mob, according to them.

Nicodemus put in a rather weak protest, appealing to his colleagues at least to give Jesus a hearing. But his was a lone voice trying to get a fair deal for Jesus. His plea was swept aside with the same arrogant dismissal as the guards received.

Why did these men stick so tenaciously to their opinion of Jesus that they were not even prepared to give Him a hearing?

Their first argument was the typical everybody’s-doing-it reason. Since all of them (except Nicodemus, and he was of no consequence to them), dismissed Jesus as a fraud, that made them right. Their confidence was based on the flimsy premise that majority opinion must be the truth.

Unfortunately, in God’s eyes this kind of reasoning does not hold water. Even if the whole world chooses to believe lies, that does not make it the truth. Billions of people follow false religions, sincerely believing that they are right and even being willing to murder to defend their beliefs but that still does not make lies the truth.

Secondly, they clung to their superficial reason for rejecting Jesus because they refused to investigate the evidence. What were they afraid of? Would they have changed their minds about Him if they found out the truth? I don’t think so. This was not about Jesus; this was about them. It would take honesty and humility to listen to Jesus and to take Him seriously and they were not prepared to do that because they would have to forfeit their status in the community and bow to Him.

We may not think we are like the Pharisees but deep in every heart there lurks the pride that cuts us off from God. “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.”  Humility is the one thing that opens the door to revelation from God. Jesus told His hearers that, if anyone genuinely wants to know the truth, he will be able to discern the source of His teaching — from God or from Himself.

Once again, this conflict opens up new understanding about God, about us and about the depravity of our own hearts. My plea is that we put aside our right to be right and examine the evidence. We have only one source of truth — the Word of God. He has graciously given us an infallible point of reference to keep us on track. If we are humble enough to say, ‘I don’t know,’ we will be on the way to finding out the truth.

Let’s use it!