Truly Stubborn

A heart that refuses to believe is hard to convince.

40 Some in the crowd who heard these words said, “This is truly the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But others said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee, will he? 42 Does not scripture say that the Messiah will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. 44 Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.45 So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this one.” 47 So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, 51 “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” 52 They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”-John7:40-53

As I read the Gospel reading, I cannot help but be amazed at the stubbornness and hardness of the hearts of some people in the crowd, chief priests and Pharisees. Even if Jesus did or said something great already, still they have a ready excuse to discredit Him. Nicodemus is one of the Pharisees. It is with logic that he asked, 'Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?' Yet, the others still found a way to discredit not only Jesus but Nicodemus' logic too.

Sometimes in life, despite speaking the truth, despite doing good, others will never be convinced of our goodness simply because they know us, where we come from, who our family is, the past sins we committed and regretted. Jesus is teaching us not to be discouraged since He was in the exact situation already. If others are not and will never be convinced of our goodness, Jesus is assuring us that He sees the sincerity in the minds and hearts of each one of us, and, will never leave our side.

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