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45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” 46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. 47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” 53 Then they all went home. ~ John 7:45-53
The chief priests sent the temple guards out to arrest the Lord Jesus. They returned without Him because it was not His time to be judged, yet. From the perspective of the temple guards, as they were listening to the Lord Jesus, “No one ever spoke the way this man does.” The chief priests then in v.47 accused the guards of being deceived.
An arrest of the Lord Jesus, would have caused a riot, because some of the people in the crowd were believing in the Lord Jesus. So, the Pharisees, in v.49, explain it away as deception and a curse. But who is really deceived here?
The religious leaders accused the temple guards and the common people as being deceived. They marginalize the common people as not knowing the law and being cursed. Then, these religious leaders put themselves forward as non-cursed because they understood the law. When we are opposed, we resort to marginalizing our opponent. But, the religious leaders were actually the ones who were deceived.
Nicodemus, a Pharisee who had come to the Lord Jesus at night back in John 3 gives a word of caution in v.51: “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” Then the Pharisees accuse Nicodemus of bias in v.52: “They replied, ‘’Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
Rather than being open to Nicodemus’ concern to know the facts before they condemn the Lord Jesus, these religious leaders say, in essence, the only reason you would want to give Him that kind of chance is that you’re part of his clan, you Galileans must all hang together.
So the guards are blinded by deception. The crowds are blinded by a curse. And Nicodemus is blinded by his Galilean bias. The religious leaders, once again, were sarcastic, pompous, cynical, and calloused. This is often the reaction of those who know not God and who do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus.
Let's consider the words of the temple guards in v.46, “No one ever spoke the way this man does.” This is the key in this passage. The teaching of the Lord Jesus either drives the unbelieving away or it draws the believing closer.
The last thing Jesus had said before the temple guards returned empty-handed is found in John 7:37–38, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
When God entered our lives and opened our eyes to His activity in our lives, we gradually began to let go of our old life. Even though we are born again, we still struggle with the pressure of the lure of the old life. On certain days, the old life screams loudly, while His voice is drowned out. Our old way of thinking, our old life will creep in from time to time. There will be times when it dominates our lives. It dominates the world around us. The Lord Jesus will always address this false way of thinking and living. That’s what got Him in trouble in the first pace.
So as we follow Him, His life, will not only fill our existence, but it will flow out of our lives. As a result, this life will not be an easy ride. Experiencing His life, which is the living waters, will, at times overwhelm ours. Then, there will be times when His life does not overwhelm ours, because we are still fallen and we will lose sight of our success, the Lord Jesus Himself. Instead of being a steady incline toward perfection, this new life will be spasmodic, experienced at different moments. As we are convinced that His life is the best life, we will forsake the wrong way of thinking and living.
The OT prophet, Ezekiel, gave us the picture of the river that flows from the throne of God:
I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. (Ezekiel 47:1-5)
Ezekiel's image speaks of the abundance of God, his unending, unceasing, inextinguishable LIFE, pouring forth from his Presence. The image is repeated in Revelation, where it makes clear this river is the River of Life: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)
The Life of the Lord Jesus, for His people, flowing as a river. The Lord Jesus doesn’t keep His life to Himself; He pours it forth for all receivers. We know He wants us to draw upon His life, for He said He came that we might have His Life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). To the extent that we access His life is the extent that we appear changed in the eyes of others. But, we know better, it is not us, it is Him.
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