Reading your Bible for today November 3

November 3: John 7:45-52

KJV Key Verse: John 7:52
52 They answered and said unto him, Art  thou also of Galilee? Search , and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

Devotion:
Despite the officers being given the command to apprehend Jesus, they were so inspired by His teachings they did not lift a finger against Him. Being there with Christ and listening to the truth was enough to persuade them they should not. But, just like any other, when they were confronted by the chief priests (or the current law) they caved in...

The chief priests continued to uphold what they believed to be the law. They based their whole argument upon the scriptures such as Isaiah 11:1 where it was recorded that Jesus would come from the house of David (stem of Jesse, David's father). They knew that David was from Bethlehem and that Jesus was living in Galilee. Whether they actually knew that Jesus was born in Bethlehem is not mentioned – but they may well have had access to the census data at the time which would have proven that Jesus was in fact born in Bethlehem. And if they studied their own history they would know other prophets did in fact come from Galilee, such as Jonah.

Their drive to stay in power seemed to blind them from the truth in front of them. Their drive to uphold what they had turned the law into was more than the truth which now confronted them. Jesus knew what was going on but continued to simply tell the truth. Most people that heard the truth were willing to accept it, but when the chief priests confronted them stating the law, they thought they had no choice but to back off.

Nicodemus was the one that came to Jesus at night time to find out the truth for himself. When he met with Jesus he was able to see and hear the truth, yet he also knew if he confronted everyone else, they would have him punished for disobeying the law. He was willing to try and reason with the other chief priests, but none of them would have it.

Points to Ponder:
How many things do you discount just because people say so?

Do you put your friends words above God’s Word?