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Given that prophets spoke in various contexts of the Messiah why
was Jesus not recognized by those to whom He came? How could they
experience Jesus directly and not believe that He was the Messiah?
It has been said that "prophecy is a poor guide to the future,"
it is also a poor guide to the present. This is not because the
words God speaks concerning things to come are inadequate but because
our minds understand imperfectly and we can therefore be deceived
and become blind to the truth. This may be illustrated in the seventh
chapter of the Gospel of John where we can see various responses
to the prophecies of the Messiah by the people who lived with Jesus
and experienced Him personally:
John 7:25-44 – Now some of them
from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?
26 "But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.
Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? 27 "However,
we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one
knows where He is from." 28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught
in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where
I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is
true, whom you do not know. 29 "But I know Him, for I am from
Him, and He sent Me." 30 Therefore they sought to take Him;
but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
31 And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When
the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man
has done?" 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these
things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent
officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said to them, "I shall
be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent
Me. 34 "You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you
cannot come." 35 Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where
does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend
to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36
"What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and
not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?" 37 ¶
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried
out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of
his heart will flow rivers of living water." 39 But this He
spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive;
for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet
glorified. 40 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this
saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet." 41 Others said,
"This is the Christ." But some said, "Will the Christ
come out of Galilee? 42 "Has not the Scripture said that the
Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem,
where David was?" 43 So there was a division among the people
because of Him. 44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one
laid hands on Him.
Of verse 27 Robertson indicates that:
This is a piece of popular theology. "Three things come wholly
unexpected—Messiah, a godsend, and a scorpion" (Sanhedrin
97a). The rulers knew the birthplace to be Bethlehem (#7:42; Mt
2:5), but some even expected the Messiah to drop suddenly from the
skies as Satan proposed to Jesus to fall down from the pinnacle
of the temple. The Jews generally expected a sudden emergence of
the Messiah from concealment with an anointing by Elijah.
Robertson's New Testament Word Pictures
and in so doing reconciles verse 27 with verse 42 where the geographical
source of the Messiah is known to be Bethlehem. The Jews expected
a sudden revelation of the Messiah with an accompanying sudden deliverance
and the establishment of the eternal kingdom that God had promised
to King David more than one thousand years earlier:
2 Samuel 7:10-13 – Moreover I will
appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that
they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall
the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since
the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and
have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells
you that He will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled
and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you,
who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom forever.
And Gill, on verse 52, writes:
For out of Galilee ariseth no prophet; but this is false, for Jonah
the prophet was of Gathhepher, which was in the tribe of Zebulun,
which tribe was in Galilee; see #2Ki 14:25 Jos 19:10,13,16. And
the Jews {z} themselves say, that Jonah, the son of Amittai, was,
Nwlwbzm, of "Zebulun", and that his father was of Zebulun,
and his mother was of Asher {a}; both which tribes were in Galilee:
and if no prophet had, as yet, arose from thence, it did not follow
that no one should arise: besides, there is a prophecy in which
it was foretold, that a prophet, and even the Messiah, the great
light, should arise in Galilee; see #Isa 9:1,2; and they themselves
say, that the Messiah should be revealed in Galilee; see Gill on
"Joh 7:41".
John Gill's Expositor
Showing that in Jesus' day as today the clear teaching of the Bible
was occasionally ignored in favour of personal preference.
Elsewhere indication is given that even those who had studied prophecy
were confused as to the true nature of Jesus:
John 9:13-16 – They brought to the
Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus
had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.
15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his
sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and
I washed, and now I see." 16 Some of the Pharisees said, "This
man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But
others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?"
So they were divided.
We have a similar response to prophecy in our own day. There are
many who have read, studied and taught upon the book of Revelation.
Many of us as well have been intrigued by and paid special attention
to those sections that deal with the second coming of Jesus and
the rapture of those who have called upon His name. Yet there is
disagreement and difference of opinion, even among devout believers
who seek only the glory and honour of God. What is happening is
that our opinions and desires get in the way of rightly interpreting
the word of God. We have some ideas of what will happen when Jesus
returns and we tend to interpret the Bible according to those ideas.
Many believe that Jesus will take up His followers before the great
tribulation, many others believe that Jesus will not return until
after the tribulation and the wrath of God has been poured out upon
the world. Both views cannot be true, either one or the other is
right or maybe both are wrong. We sincerely study the word of God
to learn His truth and yet some of us are wrong.
This is identical to what occurred during Jesus' earthly ministry.
The Messiah was expected. Specific prophecies had been made to reassure
the nation of Israel that He would come and to allow them to know
Him when He did come. These were completely fulfilled in Jesus yet
no one believed Him, not even His disciples completely, because
of the preconceptions each of them held. The prophecies had been
reinterpreted according to the desires and expectations of an oppressed
people. How would we respond if Jesus came today instead of two
thousand years ago? Would we accept Him and be willing to be taught
by Him or would we reject Him and His teaching as doctrinally questionable?
Some would no doubt believe Him, others would not, just as in Jesus'
day some were honest seekers of truth and welcomed Jesus as the
Messiah when He revealed to them the correct interpretation of the
prophecies:
Luke 24:13-32 – Now behold, two
of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus,
which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together
of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they
conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with
them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know
Him. 17 And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is
this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?"
18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him,
"Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known
the things which happened there in these days?" 19 And He said
to them, "What things?" So they said to Him, "The
things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in
deed and word before God and all the people, 20 "and how the
chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death,
and crucified Him. 21 "But we were hoping that it was He who
was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the
third day since these things happened. 22 "Yes, and certain
women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished
us. 23 "When they did not find His body, they came saying that
they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. 24
"And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and
found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see."
25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart
to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 "Ought
not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His
glory?" 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He
expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and
He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained
Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and
the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them. 30
Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took
bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their
eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
32 And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within
us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the
Scriptures to us?"
Others were deceived by the enemy and would not believe regardless
of the facts.
John 10:22-39 – Now it was the Feast
of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked
in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded
Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? If
You are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered them,
"I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in
My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 "But you
do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow
Me. 28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never
perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My
Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one
is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 "I
and My Father are one." 31 Then the Jews took up stones again
to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have
shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone
Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work
we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a
Man, make Yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it
not written in your law, ‘I said, "You are gods"‘?
35 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and
the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 "do you say of Him whom
the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’
because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 "If I
do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 "but
if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you
may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."
39 ¶ Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped
out of their hand.
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