Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And every man went unto his own house.

John 7:40-53

A few days ago I wrote about the confusion concerning Who Jesus was as recorded in John, Chapter 7. I have named this article part 2 because , not only did the confusion not go away, it seems to have gotten worse.

The people were divided because they had been taught what to look for in the Messiah and that was drastically different from what they found in Jesus. However, He did preach with amazing power and did all the miracles that they were expecting. So what was the problem? Their leaders didn’t believe and basically forbid them from believing as well. 

Even the officers sent by the Pharisees were mesmerized by the preaching of Jesus. They could have given all sorts of answers for not bringing Jesus back to their bosses. Any answer but the one they gave would have probably kept them out of trouble, but… Jesus is no regular man and these officers could see and hear that.

But the Pharisees would not relent. They wanted Jesus dead.

In steps Nicodemus.

He was one of their rulers but he also had a much deeper interest in Jesus that his colleagues on the Sanhedrin court. He had come to Jesus by night to learn more. Now, Nicodemus defending Jesus in the day, albeit he handles it in a lawyerly manner. HIs fellow Jews mock him for this. Later, we will see Nicodemus openly showing his devotion to Christ by begging for His body with Joseph. What a wondrous testimony to the grace of God in his life!

The main point that I would like to make in this article is that God is not the author of confusion, and that there is nothing inaccurate or contradicting in the Bible. When we rely on the Bible alone then we have the true facts about God and His Son. When we mix in man’s opinions, pride, and will, we get confusion.

God gives His children faith to be able to comprehend Who He is and what He has done for us. Notice what Paul says to the Church at Corinth:

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

1st Corinthians 2:12

The Spirit of God dwelling in us gives the exact same testimony as the Bible. We can rest assured that we are believing the correct things when we read the Bible and trust it. But when we allow our own desires, will, and philosophies to come into the mix, we will confuse ourselves. 

We should be good stewards of the word of God given to us. When we are, we save ourselves from false professors, false teachers, and confusion.