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John 7
The temple guards were supposed to arrest Jesus, but they instead returned to the chief priests and Pharisees empty handed. They seemed to understand that Jesus had some authority that was higher than that of their leaders. But ya gotta love the Pharisees’ response. “You mean He has deceived you also? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him? No!” (John 7:47a, 48-49a). Oh, the pride!! Since there was no possible way these learned men could make a mistake, the uneducated mob should look to them to discern the truth – BAH!! Talk about putting yourself in the place of God!
I’ve got to give Nicodemus a little credit here, though. He was at least willing to listen and to consider that he might not have everything all figured out. And, though his defense of Jesus was a little shy, I rather imagine that it took more than a little boldness to speak up in any way in front of his self-righteous peers.
As usual, it is easy to stand on the sidelines looking in with a judgmental eye. The easy thing, however, is not always the best. Instead, I need to be willing to drop my own pride and examine myself. I know that I am fully capable of the self-righteous pride of these religious leaders and that I often lack the boldness for even a shy response like that of Nicodemus. I sometimes wonder if I even have the courage of the temple guards, who rightly questioned their authorities. So rather than pointing a condemning finger here, I humbly ask God to help me do as Jesus said. “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” (John 7:24).
1 Chron. 16-17
What was God’s promise to David? What was David’s response? How have you responded to God’s promises to you? David wanted to build a house for God. However God said that it was He who would build a house for David. God then makes a series of promises regarding David’s successor. Solomon seems to fit at least partially with these promises. I believe the primary subject of all of these statements, however, is Jesus.
“I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him” (1 Chron. 16:11b-13b). With a direct lineage to David, Jesus is, in fact, one of David’s own sons. And it is His kingdom that stands forever. We, the Church, are the house that He built for God’s dwelling place. God is His Father, and He is God’s Son, the embodiment of God’s everlasting love.
We have the advantage of hindsight for a much deeper understanding of God’s promises to David here. I don’t know how deep David’s understanding of it all went. He did seem to understand, though, that he had been chosen to be part of something big. He knew this wasn’t about David’s kingdom, but about God’s.