When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded. “Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!” Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked. They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes from Galilee!” (John 7:45-52)The Jesus in the book of John was rather confrontational. He didn’t mind at all making people mad. But he also didn’t mind giving them oblique answers that left them confused.
Those in charge of things often begin to perceive themselves alone as qualified for being in charge. They feel they alone have the temperament or education or sometimes, just plain discernment.
In their eyes everybody else should be happy to be led. When those who should be led begin to question the decisions of the would-be leaders or their interpretations of things, the leaders become angry.
The religious leaders in Jesus’ day were no exception. They had studied the law, they had been to seminaries and had been taught the law by others who knew what they were talking about. And they had the credentials to prove it.
When people began to disagree with them, it was always the people’s fault. After all, they were united in how they felt about Jesus. Or at least the ones who thought that way were. And if you disagreed with them, you were disagreeing with people who new better than you.
That culture of specialized gnosticism is rampant in America today. Those who would be in charge just know better than everyone else. And the American ideal, that anyone can rise to power and lead the country, no matter their educational background or their family line, doesn’t agree with what those who would lead think.
Whether it be the light bulbs we use or the food we eat or the cars we drive, someone always wants to tell us what to do. and when we disagree, they always bring up their qualifications.
But those qualifications do not always matter. Sometimes educated people are wrong. And these people were wrong.
Simply because all of the Pharisees, the conservative religious leaders did not like Jesus didn’t really mean anything. Jesus represented a threat to their power and they misconstrued this as meaning that he was a threat to God as they saw him: in their corner.
How they thought was paramount to everything else, including the truth.
When people think like this, there is not a whole lot to do. in America, we vote them out of office and replace them with someone with more sense. In this situation here with Jesus, he just ignored them and went on about his business: seeking and saving the lost.
Sometimes that is all you can do.
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