This passage may seem unnecessary or superfluous, because it repeats the same question from earlier in Chapter 7, can the messiah be someone we know? Well this is indeed a very interesting question. And it touches on a some very deep theological realities. Lets explore.
Moses in Deuteronomy is told by the lord that, He will raise up a shoot among you, a prophet greater than all the prophets, and greater even than Moses. and that prophet will be the Christ, the Messiah that will come to save the world. So from that prophecy we know that “among you” means the line of David. From Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through Moses, a son of David would be the Christ.
We also know that in Micah 5:2 that he prophesied that the messiah would come from the town of Bethlehem. Micah made this prophecy, in around 700 BC, after the kingdom had split, and right about the same time that the last king of Israel (Hosea) died. After Hosea, the Line of David was actively being exterminated, and by all appearances seemed to be coming to an end. Those that survived, hid their identity, and scattered into the countryside to escape persecution. After some time, they all settled in and around Bethlehem, and tried to live as quiet a life as possible. But it is important to note that Bethlehem was very much a “back water” town. No one, except the people that actually lived there ever went there.
What makes this all remarkable is that while Jesus (as a man) lived near Galilee, He was born in Bethlehem. Joseph took mary to Jerusalem because of the census, and they planned on staying with relatives in nearby Bethlehem, because Joseph was from the line of David, and knew many people there. But he could not find a place to stay, when they arrived, and they ended up in a cave, and Jesus spent His first night in the world, sleeping in a feeding trough. So the king of the universe, incarnated as man, was born in the middle of nowhere, in a town called Bethlehem, which means “house of bread,” and was sleeping in a feeding trough (the bread for the life of the world). This Jesus, is the fulfillment of all prophecy, he is the messiah, the Christ, who came to save us all from our sins, and redeem us to the Father.
So now we come to the moment of today’s reading. For the majority of Chapter 7 Jesus has been claiming that He is the son of God, trying to show them that He is the fulfillment that they have all been waiting for. Some see it, like Nicodemus, and some of the others reject it because they think that they know Jesus or because they know where He is from, and who His parents are. These people can be forgiven for their not understanding, and their questioning. But the Pharisees on the other hand, cannot. They are the keepers and teachers of the law. If anyone should have noticed the signs, and the recognized Jesus in the prophecies, it should have been the Pharisees.
But what do they do instead? They shut it all down, reject what their own minds tell them, and they proclaim “see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” Was it because of ignorance, or willful blindness? We cannot know for sure, but I suspect it was because of simple Pride. If Jesus was the messiah, it would mean that their time as leaders of the temple, and teachers of the law would be over. And it would mean that they would, as John said, have to decrease in order to allow Jesus to increase. But their pride, and lust for power would not allow them to do that.
So what is the message for us today. We must be careful not to allow our pride, and lust for the things of this world, prevent us from seeing the goodness, truth, and beauty that Jesus wants to share with us. We should not quickly jump to conclusions, or allow our presumptions and suspicions to carry the day. We must endeavor to be humble in all things and at all times, so that we can be ready to accept the gifts, and wisdom that God wants to share with us.
It is easy to say but hard to do, but we must do it. Because, as Ferris Bueler once said: “if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it!” Don’t do that, don’t miss it, because the gifts that God is waiting to give you, are more profound and wonderful then you could ever imagine, and there is nothing in this world that can even come close by comparison, and He offers them to you for free, and for eternity, if you simply just ask. What are you possibly waiting for?
