Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 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. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” John 7:25-31
Everybody knew the Jewish authorities wanted to kill Jesus, yet they did nothing. So the people started thinking that maybe the authorities knew something special about Jesus. Just maybe they thought Jesus was the Christ and that is why they refused to kill Him. So the people were arguing amongst themselves as to who was Jesus, teacher, blasphemer or Christ.
Today we see that some felt that because they knew Jesus came from Nazareth that He couldn’t possibly be the Christ because they thought that they would not know where the Christ came from. Yet the Old Testament told where the Messiah was to be born so this line of thinking was suspect. Yet is some ways they were correct in that they truly did not know where Jesus came from. Even when He told them they refused to believe He came from God.
Of course one reason that the authorities could not kill Jesus or even arrest Him at this time was that it was not His time. The authorities thought they were in control but it was really Jesus who controlled everything. He would choose when the time was right to be arrested. He would chose when the time was right to be executed and He would chose when the time was right to die. And, He would chose when the time was right to rise from the grave. All creation was in His control.
Finally we see that those who believed that Jesus was the Christ were convinced by His actions. They tell the unbelievers that if Jesus was not the Christ then could the Christ do anything more than Jesus was already doing. In fact, whether they recognized it or not Jesus was doing everything that Isaiah foretold the Messiah would do. So really no first century Jew had an excuse for not recognizing Jesus for who He was. God had told them everything they needed to recognize Him. From the time He would come to what He would do, God had written it all down for those who cared to know.
That is true for us today. God has left us a written record of all the events that led up to Jesus coming, His life, death and resurrection. We also are told why He did what he did and what it means to each of us. We are without excuse.
Have a blessed day,
David
