Jesus has a confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders in John 7. These same leaders are wondering about Jesus, they marvel at His teachings, they question where He came from and His purpose, and then they end of plotting to get rid of Him, not just shutting up His mouth, but making it permanent. They would call it justified because He spoke heresy, according to them, but it would be expedient murder on their part and for their reasons.
Maybe it is wrong not to think about Jesus statements to these men in this section of Scripture, but I am left considering the Pharisees and Saducees, and their role in all of this. Here was a group of well studied men, so protective of their own position in the Jewish nation, that they could not see past what seems obvious to us today. Of course we have the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, as we read the Bible, but surely some of these men had a glimpse of who Jesus possibly was.
Were these religious leaders so bound up in tradition, in the things they had been taught, and in the judgment of the more powerful ones in their council, that they could not think independently? Were there not at least a few of them, that did more than follow the party line message? Tradition has it that both Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, members of the ruling council, broke ranks and followed Jesus eventually. Were there others who were at least thinking and wondering about the whole affair?
If I had been one of those men back then, what would I have done? Of course, I think now, that I would have surely stood up and challenged the powerful men in that group, taking them to task about their refusal to even think about the possibility that Jesus might be what He claimed. Ho, Ho, would I really?
Even right now, as I live and study, do I even want to hear opinions that I don't agree with? Do I want to hear arguments for a certain position that seems wrong to me? Am I open to anyone, even God, asking me to rethink my ideas? Is my mind sealed, like the pre-Easter tomb, or can the stone be rolled away?
When I was involved in a men's group in Virginia, one man in the group of six was pretty liberal in his politics and other life positions. He brought ideas to me that I had not considered and taught me that all men of that persuasion were not just uniformed, but they did had points that I should consider. Now he did not change my mind a lot of times, but he is still one of the men that I try to get together with when we get back to Blacksburg. I wish he lived down here.
Dear God, help me to keep my mind open to You and to others who might speak for You and from You. Keep the stone rolled away, so that I might at least consider what they have to say, and lead me to fellowship with men that will challenge me to think and not just react.
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