Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?

 

 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.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  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.  

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.  

Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?"  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."

 

- John 7:37-52 

 

Our current readings are taking place in Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew Succoth or Sukkot), an eight-day autumn festival commemorating the time Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai.  It is the final year of Jesus earthly life and ministry.  On Saturday, we read that about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  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.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  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?"  The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  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?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"

 

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.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  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.   My study Bible comments that the last day, that great day of the feast is the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles.  Many of the elements of this Feast provide a backdrop and context for Christ's teachings in the passages we read through chapter 10.  Here, my study Bible explains, the drawing of water provides the context for the Lord's teaching, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."  On the last day, water was drawn from the pool of Siloam (meaning "Sent," as we shall read in chapter 9) to be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar, as purification and also in remembrance of the water flowing from the rock struck by Moses (Exodus 17:1-7).  Christ's words and teachings tie in, magnify, and illuminate the spiritual events of ancient Israel which are manifest and made full in His presence (see Matthew 5:17).  My study Bible says that the living water of which Christ speaks is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the new life that accompanies this gift.

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.  My study Bible explains that the Prophet refers to the expected Messiah, the Savior whom Moses foretold would come (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  Bethlehem in Judea was the town from which the Christ was expected to come (see Micah 5:2).  The public thinks of Jesus as One born in Nazareth of Galilee; they don't know of His birth in Bethlehem (see Luke 2:3-5).

Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?"  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  As we read earlier (see verse 32), the chief priests had sent officers of the temple to arrest Jesus in the middle of the Feast.  This is now the last day of the Feast, but no arrest has been made.  My study Bible explains that the officers had been converted by the Lord's teaching.  It cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, that the Pharisees and the scribes who had "witnessed the miracles and read the Scriptures derived no benefit" from either.  But these officers, on the contrary, although they could claim none of the learning of the religious leaders, were "captivated by a single sermon."  When the mind is open, "there is no need for long speeches.  Truth is like that."

Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."  My study Bible notes that Nicodemus has spoken with Jesus (John 3:1-21), and had increased in faith since then.  However, his defense of Christ is still based on our law, and this is not yet a public profession of faith (see John 19:38-39).  According to the law, Jesus must be given a hearing before He can be judged (Exodus 23:1; Deuteronomy 1:15-17).   My study Bible notes also that the Pharisees are showing their blind hatred and ignorance of the Scriptures in their reply to Nicodemus, for the prophet Jonah came from Galilee, the town of Gath Hepher, which was only three miles from Nazareth (2 Kings 14:25). 

 

 Nicodemus, who will eventually become an open and active believer in Christ, is quoted as saying to the others in the Council, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  Nicodemus is himself a Pharisee, as we read in John's chapter 3.  We read in today's reading of the chaos and impending calamity that surrounds Jesus' presence at this time.  The people are on all sides concerning opinion about Jesus.  We are told that there was a division among the people because of Him.  In Friday's reading, we were told that "there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, 'He is good'; others said, 'No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.'  However no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews [meaning the antagonistic religious leaders]."   So into this mishmash of chaos and confusion, and conflict of opinions and motivations, we find Nicodemus.  In some ways, Nicodemus might be said to be reflecting every one of us who struggles for faith.  We might be very much engaged by Christ and His teachings.  Although Jesus is not a religious authority within the structures of the establishment, clearly He was a compelling teacher and preacher, with a growing ministry of followers and disciples.  There is a strong notion about truth, and the nature of truth, that underlies the narrative, the story of what we read:  we read that the people are of mixed and conflicting opinion, no one is sure what to believe, there are all kinds of rumors that swirl -- some possibly spread deliberately, some perhaps simply mistaken and confused.  The members of the Council who oppose Jesus do so perhaps unfairly:  after all, He healed a man on the Sabbath.  It is a fair question to ask if this is truly a sin or a violation of the law (as Jesus in His own defense gives His own examples of blameless violations of the Sabbath).  But the conflict is clear; Jesus represents a problem for those who feel He undermines their absolute authority.  We can also read this in the fear we're told the people feel, who do not speak in front of the authorities who have the power to cast anyone out.  And so, we come back to Nicodemus, who is in some way in the midpoint of his faith journey as we reach toward the end of the festival, and officers are sent for Jesus' arrest.  Nicodemus takes root into the law he knows, the faith he loves, and he asks, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  My study Bible has a couple of useful quotations that would seem to apply here, found in commentary on other passages.  It quotes St. Mark the Ascetic as saying, "Do the good you know, and what you do not know will be revealed to you" in commentary on Mark 4:24, a teaching regarding discernment and how we "hear."   In chapter 9, we will read of the blind man who has been healed by Christ, and is then questioned with hostility by the leaders.  We're told that he answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25).  My study Bible comments that this healed man becomes a model of witnessing; his answer to people much more educated than he is provides the solution when we are unsure of the completeness of our knowledge. He admits what he does not know, but follows up with what he does know. It says that the formula, "That I don’t know, but what I do know is this," is foundational to witnessing one’s faith to others.  So we look to Nicodemus, who has not yet reached the point of a public confession of faith in Christ.  He is taking faith in what he does know:  he knows the law, he knows that it is good, that there are procedures in place for assuring that justice is done, and that actions are based in truth.  We know he is on a journey which will take him much farther along in faith in Christ, and that, together with another man of the Council, Joseph of Arimathea, he is commemorated in the Church.  But for now, let us look to Nicodemus as a sort of "Everyman" in the midst of a confusing and unclear battle of known and unknown forces surrounding him in Jerusalem at this time, and in the story of Jesus.  He knows what he knows; he has gone to Jesus by night for teaching and so has found some level of trust in Christ.  But for now, he attempts to certify what is true, to hold back the tide of rage and anger and political machination with a reverence for the law he knows is good, a search for truth, an attempt at justice and at judging good judgment.  He is seeking to do, in the way he knows how, as Christ taught:  "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24).  Many of us might find ourselves in similar circumstances, but we should do as we see Nicodemus doing (and we will watch his journey of growth and eventual risky public position that openly breaks with leaders by helping with the burial of Christ; see John 19:39).  He roots himself in what he knows to be good, he speaks the truth he knows as does the healed blind man.  He does the good he knows, as St. Mark the Ascetic teaches, and he will wait and respond farther along to what is revealed to him.  So, for today, let us see him as our model for witnessing and for truth.  Unfortunately, the Pharisees respond with an untruth that reveals their rage.  But even the officers who were ordered to seize Christ can hear the power and truth in His words, and are unable to act.  In today's reading, let us note that Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit, whom He also calls the Spirit of Truth, and consider how central that is to everything that we witness, and every person who must seek truth for themselves, in our own struggle to find our way through uncertainty and confusion.