The Final Day of the Festival

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

October 22, 2019

The Final Day of the Festival

Page 155

John 7: 37-53

Whenever there is a great argument, the issue is not the subject of the argument; the issue is always about control. This is true in politics in the public arena, as well as politics within the church. In today’s passage, the leading Pharisees model this truth for us. They spoke passionately about God’s Law, about what is proper and good for ordering Temple life, but their argument reveals they really do not know their law or the history of Israel. They reveal a contemptuous attitude and bigotry against anyone that disagrees with them. What really mattered to them is that they were the ones who controlled life in Israel. Nicodemus tried to give the leaders a reality check by reminding them that their law provided for a hearing before judgment can be rendered against a person. However, the hypocrisy train the Pharisees were riding had already left the station, as their next comments revealed.

The Pharisees railed against Nicodemus for being ignorant that no prophet ever comes from Galilee. However, their own words revealed how their jealousy of Jesus blinded them to the truth. The word translated “comes” can also be translated “rises up.” This same word refers to resurrection in other parts of the Gospel of John. Two of Israel’s most well-known prophets came from Galilee: Jonah and Hosea. Jonah spent three days in the belly of the whale, and in Hosea 6:2 it is written, “on the third day (God) will raise us up.” Not only did these great Prophets come from Galilee, they, in their own way, were pointing to the fulfillment of Jesus’ words in John 2:19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

My Takeaway: It is so very easy to have my knowledge of God clouded by cultural norms and biases. The Pharisees in today’s reading model for me the importance of continually asking the questions noted in yesterday’s passage: What do I know about God, and how do I know it?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.