When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
– John 7:40-52
The most important decision you will ever make is whether or not you will trust in Jesus Christ as your God and Savior. The most important relationship you will ever have is a relationship with Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ day, just like in our day, there were three reactions to Jesus.
- Negatives – these people had hearts that were closed to Jesus, and their responses ranged from passively ignoring Him to actively seeking to oppose and even murder Him.
- Neutrals – these people were torn between being drawn to Jesus but also struggling with the social pressure and criticism that comes from being a Christian.
- Positives – these people were disciples of Jesus who believed in Him and stuck in relationship with Him.
In Matthew 16:15 Jesus asks this history-defining, life-altering, and eternity-determining question, “Who do you say that I am?”
What is your answer to Jesus’ question?
To this point in John, we have been given numerous answers to that question:
- John 1 – Word of God, Eternal, Creator, Light, Lord, Christ, Giver of the Holy Spirit, Lamb of God, Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Man
- John 2 – Temple of God’s presence, Son of God the Father, the miracle worker
- John 3 – Rabbi, Son of Man, Son of God, Savior Christ, from heaven, our wrath remover
- John 4 – Prophet, Messiah, Rabbi, Savior of the world, healer
- John 5 – Healer, Lord of Sabbath, equal with God Father, Son of God, Judge of humanity, Son of Main, resurrection from death, center of Scripture,
- John 6 – miracle worker who gives bread and walks on water, Bread of Life
- John 7 – Teacher, miracle worker, Prophet, the Christ, object of our faith
If you could pick a handful of works to describe what you think about Jesus Christ, what words would you choose?