Withholding Judgment
Sometimes knowledge can be an obstacle.
On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” - John 7:37-52
Throughout life we learn things and those things we learned become the foundation for everything we believe.
The Pharisees knew from Scripture from where the Messiah would come, so they ignored all they saw and heard from the one they knew came from somewhere else.
The idea that someone cannot be taken seriously unless they come from a certain place, or have a degree, or have had special training limits our thinking.
We cannot be as open to the amazing world around us if we limit our thinking.
What it boils down to is are we able to overcome our preconceptions and discover something we hadn't considered before, or are we so sure of ourselves that we ignore what we see and hear?
Nicodemus tried to use reason to open the minds of the Pharisees, but that only backfired on him. They accused him of being from Galilee, another way of saying he was ignorant.
So, for me, the message John gives us here from Jesus is one of being open to discovery. Listen to what He has to say and withhold judgment, for a little while.
Stop, Listen, Think, Reflect.
What did you hear and see? What did you believe before? What is put in question now?
If we cannot shed our preconceptions and prejudices, we are all doomed to be forever at odds with one another.
Maybe we should try to do what Martin Luther King Jr. said we should strive for, judging each other by the content of our character instead of the beliefs we grew up with.
More to come...