Slices
Prepare
‘Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name’ (Psalm 86:11).
Bible passage
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet.’
41 Others said, ‘He is the Messiah.’
Still others asked, ‘How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?’ 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
Unbelief of the Jewish leaders
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring him in?’
46 ‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards replied.
47 ‘You mean he has deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted. 48 ‘Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law – there is a curse on them.’
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 ‘Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?’
52 They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.’
Explore
Unlike Matthew and Luke, John doesn’t tell us about Jesus’ birth, so this is the only time in his Gospel that Bethlehem is mentioned. It is an intriguing bit of dramatic irony where the Pharisees are saying that Jesus can’t possibly be the Messiah because the prophets say that the Messiah must come from Bethlehem. John is expecting his readers to be shouting, ‘But Jesus is from Bethlehem!’
The Pharisees think that they know everything about Jesus. They know his parents and family; they know the region of Israel in which he has been brought up; and none of this measures up to their idea of what the Messiah should look like. Their prejudice against Jesus’ background has blinded them to the miracles that he has performed and his accomplished preaching which dazzles the crowds. Coming from Jerusalem, we might even call them the metropolitan elite. They have contempt for the crowd who are uneducated, and dissenting voices like Nicodemus are quickly shouted down (v 52).
At the beginning of his Gospel, John tells us that Jesus came to his own but his own did not receive him (John 1:11). Perhaps Jesus’ background was simply too ordinary for them to see God at work.
Respond
In our desire to see God do spectacular things, do we sometimes miss what he is doing in the ordinary? Pray for fresh eyes to see God at work.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Chronicles 10–12; Ephesians 1
Pray for Scripture Union
Mission Partner Beverley Schools Christian Trust gives thanks for one-to-one listening support for secondary pupils; pray for the pupils in often challenging life circumstances. Pray too for children in the lunchtime Bible clubs and prayer spaces, as they explore faith, prayer and the Bible.
