by David Scott Robertson
John 7:40-43 (NLT)
When the crowds heard him [Jesus] say this, some of them declared, "This man surely is the Prophet." [41] Others said, "He is the Messiah." Still others said, "But he can't be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? [42] For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born." [43] So the crowd was divided in their opinion about him.
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Pardon me, but would I sound crass and self-righteous if were to raise the question to those in the crowd the day these statements were made that were recorded in the gospel of John:
"Wait a minute! Has anyone bothered to ask Jesus where He was born? Where did He grow up? Let's ask Jesus right now to help us understand how His life thus far has fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Messiah."
The reason the crowd, both in Jesus' day and in our day, are divided about their opinion about Him is that they have not done their homework. Discovering the truth has rarely been a priority to a busy, self-centered culture. We are prone to make value judgments long before we have the facts established. We permit others to formulate our opinions for us, somehow trusting that they have done their homework when in fact they have not.
There were probably remnants of the multitudes that at various times may have approached Jesus after His public discourses and in essence said:
- "Excuse me, Jesus, may I ask you what you meant when you said…?"
- "Pardon me, Lord, I want to believe what you're saying but I'm having a little trouble understanding. Can you help me?"
- "Rabbi, I'm not a Pharisee, Sadducee, scribe, or teacher of the law. I'm an ordinary man. Will you explain the meaning of the parable you just shared with the crowd, please?"
It's people like these that went home with a revelation of who Jesus really was. It's no wonder why God plainly says through the prophet Hosea: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge…" (4:6).
The reason those in the world at large who has heard the gospel message and still question or reject it is that they have not done their homework. If they had, they would come to the inevitable conclusion that Jesus is who He claimed to be - God's only provision for their sin.
Unfortunately, many stubbornly refuse to accept the fact that their personal sin has estranged them from the living God. In their heart of hearts, many sincerely believe that they are good enough to make it to heaven or at least not bad enough to be condemned to hell. They may be sincere but they are sincerely mistaken.
Many agnostics have embarked on a journey to disprove the Bible and the claims of Christ and have collided with the truth along the way and have converted to Christianity.
Christian apologist Winkey Pratney writes in his excellent article "Holy Bible, Wholly True?" that the odds that just 48 of the prophecies concerning Jesus Christ would coincidentally be fulfilled by someone else are 1 x 10to the 157th power (that's 1 x 10 followed by 157 zeros)!
Mr. Pratney goes on to say that Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies in His coming to earth (not even counting those He will fulfill in His return to earth)!
It amazes me how much homework American consumers will do before they purchase a new car, or secure a mortgage, or decide which university their daughter will attend. They'll spend hours on the Internet gathering information, interview friends, make on-site visits to car dealerships or banks or colleges investing money and time into what they consider to be an important decision for their future.
How much more, then, should we do our homework investigating the claims of Christ who alone can save our souls?
DSR
11/28/04