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Division over Jesus - John 7:43
Division over Jesus - John 7:43
"So there was a division among the people over him" (John 7:43). Just notice the many opinions expressed in this chapter alone!
• His brothers didn’t believe He was the Christ (5)
• He is a good man (12).
• He is leading the people astray (12).
• The Jews marveled saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” (15). Notice again this
rejection by ‘academia’: “Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? (48).
• “You have a demon!” (20).
• Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? (26).
• "But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from” (27).
• Is this the prophet (referring to the promise of Moses in Deut. 18).
• This IS the Christ. (41)
• The Christ cannot come out of Galilee, but must be the offspring of David and come from Bethlehem (42).
• "Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man
has done?” (31).
While reading such books as John we sometimes wonder why everyone didn’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God. Woven into John’s writing are the various reasons behind such unbelief. Much of the unbelief was based upon ignorance. They were ignorant of who Jesus was and of His history (i.e., where he was born, his family lineage, etc.). They knew His teaching was true to the Scriptures and honoring unto God yet they didn't know how He came to know such things. They let their ignorance over-ride the obvious: seeing the miracles they rejected the obvious conclusion because of their not knowing other things about Him.
He is a good man. He is the Christ. He came doing miracles showing He was ‘of God’. He was the prophet like Moses. As the Christ he was both born in Bethlehem and yet he also came out of Galilee. He was the Son of David who would sit upon David’s throne and rule. SOME of the authorities and Pharisees DID believe in Him. We also learn that later his brothers DID come to believe in Him and became His disciples.
Let us not only believe in Him, but let us NOT be afraid to speak of Him openly!
Hugh DeLong
