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Great confusion

Text: John 7 : 40-53

GREAT CONFUSION

How confused the multitudes were when they tried to arrive at a conclusion as to who Jesus really was! John recorded this sad reality.

“Therefore many from the crowd,
when they heard this saying, said,
‘Truly this is the Prophet.’
Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’
But some said, ‘Will the Christ come out of Galilee?
Has not the Scripture said that the
Christ comes from the seed of David
and from the town of Bethlehem,
where David was?’
So there was a division among the
people because of Him.
Now some wanted to take Him,
but no one laid hands on Him.”
John 7:40-44

There were at least four different opinions concerning Jesus. Let us take time to analyze why there was such a great sense of confusion that the people actually became divided.

FIRST VIEW: JESUS WAS THE PROPHET

This first view was probably prompted by two factors. Firstly, there was some knowledge of a Mosaic prophecy concerning God sending a prophet. This ancient prophecy read,

“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you (Moses)
from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth,
and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words,
which He speaks in My Name, I will require it of Him.”
Deuteronomy 18:18-19

There was no mistaking the meaning of this prophecy. God promised that He would raise up a prophet who would be just like Moses, truly skilled in the teaching of God’s Word.

The second factor was probably because the people had been impressed by the way Jesus had taught them. There was such a ring of authority in the way He taught the Scriptures. The people were immediately challenged to consider the possibility that Jesus was The Prophet promised by God!

If they really believed that Jesus was The Prophet, why did they not pay even closer attention to the word that He preached? They must have known that God would hold them accountable if they were to neglect the word that The Prophet proclaimed to them.

THE SECOND VIEW: JESUS WAS THE CHRIST

The second view was even more positive. There were some who proposed that Jesus was “The Christ”. They were inclined to consider the possibility that Jesus was indeed the Anointed One of God.

This group of people was also impressed by the Words of Jesus. However, they were even more impressed by His power to perform outstanding miracles! No one had ever been able to display the kind of power that He did! Could there be any doubt at all that He was indeed the Christ?

THE THIRD VIEW: JESUS WAS NOT THE CHRIST

The third view was diametrically opposite to the second one. The first was not resisted as much. There was a willingness to concede that Jesus could be a prophet sent from God. However, to regard Him as a prophet of God was not quite the same as seeing Him as the Messiah! (How wrong they were in this respect. The prophecy concerning the Prophet written in the Mosaic Law was actually the Messianic Prophet. He wasn’t just another prophet. He was meant to be the Christ who functioned in the capacity of a prophet).

The arguments put forward to support this view were not well-founded at all. Some correctly cited the Scriptures, and said that the promised Christ would come from “the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem” (John 7:42). They were right in their understanding of the Scriptures up to this point! However, they obviously did not do enough research. They had not realized that Jesus did indeed come from the line of David and that He was born in Bethlehem.

It was unfortunate that this third view could be so right in its analysis and be so wrong in its conclusion! The people had confused themselves! They could have easily checked up these two facts concerning Jesus. However, they didn’t!

THE FOURTH VIEW: HOSTILE REGARD TOWARDS JESUS

The fourth view was not expressed in words. This view most likely belonged to The Jews who just wanted to arrest Jesus. They did not express any opinion concerning Jesus, but they were obviously hostile. All they wanted to do was to “take Him” (John 7:44). However, because it was not time yet for Jesus to be delivered, they could not effect His arrest at all.

CONFUSION THAT WAS SELF-WROUGHT

The confusion of the people was truly self-wrought. The people need not have stayed in their confusion if they had only done some very simple things:-

1. If they had taken the trouble to check the Scriptures, they would have come to the conclusion that Jesus was a Prophet and more! He was also the Christ.

2. If they had taken the trouble to check with Jesus, they would have had their doubts clarified.

3. If they had taken the trouble to do some basic research, even some fact-finding would help immensely, their doubts would have been chased away. Unfortunately, the people remained in their doubts and never went beyond them.