Tom:

We are continuing with the Gospel of John and we’re going through it verse by verse.As Dave mentioned earlier, well did you mention or were you getting on my case?We’re going very slowly through the Gospel of John.But Dave—

Dave:

No, I wouldn’t say that Tom.

Tom:

Okay.Dave, we want to encourage people to go through the scriptures verse by verse.You gave us the poem earlier.Have you got another one to cover this subject?

Dave:

Well I have, but Tom you don’t want to hear it again.It’s quite a lengthy one.Do you want to hear it?

Tom:

I want to hear it!

Dave:

Okay.It goes something like this: “Yes, I thought I knew my Bible,” is that the one you are thinking of?

Tom:

That’s the one!

Dave:

I THOUGHT I KNEW MY BIBLE

Yes I thought I knew my Bible

Reading piecemeal, hit or miss

Now a part of John or Matthew

Then a bit of Genesis

Certain chapters of Isaiah

Certain psalms, the twenty third.

First of Proverbs, twelfth of Romans

Yes, I thought I knew the Word

But I found that thorough reading

Was a different thing to do

And the way was unfamiliar

When I read my Bible through.

You who like to play at Bible

Dip and dabble here and there

Just before you kneel all weary

Yawning through a hurried prayer.

You who treat this crown of writings

As you treat no other book

Just a paragraph disjointed

Just a crude impatient look.

Try a worthier procedure

Try a broad and steady view;

You will kneel in awesome wonder

When you read the Bible through, and through, and through.

Tom:

And it may take a while, but it’s worth it.Absolutely.Dave, the other thing about going through the Bible verse by verse.The Bible explains itself.

Dave:

Amen!

Tom:

And when we’re going through a verse here or a verse there, the more familiar we become with other places in the Bible where maybe if we are dealing with a very difficult verse, other verses help explain that verse.

Dave:

Absolutely.

Tom:

And that’s the way we are to do it. So if it takes awhile, that’s fine.Because what better pursuit could we have of understanding what God is saying?

Dave:

You’ll find that in this very passage before us.

Tom:

We are currently in John:7:40-43 [40] Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. [41] Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? [42] Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? [43] So there was a division among the people because of him.
See All..., “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?³So there was a division among the people because of him.

Dave:

Interesting Tom, at least two other times in John’s gospel—John:9:16Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
See All... and John:10:19There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
See All..., I think, it says there was a division among the people because of Jesus.He caused a division.It reminds you of Luke 12 where he says; I came not to bring peace, but a sword.I came to bring a division.Division between parents and children, husbands and wives, and that of course is the division between the truth and a lie.And there is a division here because these people don’t know the scriptures.That’s their problem.They are not united in the truth and they’re puzzling.Could this man be the Christ, or is he not?They have their various reasons for why they think he is or why they think he isn’t.For example, verses 40 and 41 we have a little contradiction here.It says “…therefore, when they heard this saying, said of a truth this is the Prophet.Others said this is the Christ.Well that’s one and the same.The prophet that Moses speaks of in Deuteronomy 18, he says “God will raise up a prophet like unto me, him you will hear,” and so forth.He is talking about the Messiah.But then other say, “This is the Christ.They think the Prophet is different from the Christ.Not so.They are one and the same.But some said shall Christ come out of Galilee?Well how would you know who the one would be that is the Christ?That is why you have several hundred specific prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah.Now he was in fact, born in Bethlehem.They didn’t know that.They said doesn’t scripture say that Christ will come from the seat of David out of the town of Bethlehem?Well in fact he did!But they didn’t know that.It goes back to what you were talking about earlier Tom.Ignorance, not knowing the facts, not investigating thoroughly, which we can all be guilty of—

Tom:

But Dave, also convinced in their own minds that they know.Look at the next verse.Dave, we read verse 43: “So there was division among the people because of him.”They all took their own sides, but then it says in verse 44, “And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.”

Dave:

Yes, they were convinced he wasn’t the Christ.But Tom, let’s go back to that verse 41.This is the Christ?How would you know?It reminds me of Luke 7 when John the Baptist, you remember, sent two disciples saying to Jesus, “Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?”He worded his question right.He that should come.It was prophesied that someone would come.That someone was the Messiah.Well how would you know who is the one who is to come?He would have to fulfill the prophecies.The very prophecies that told you he was coming.And they are very specific.He would be born in Bethlehem.Well we know that was true of Christ.Daniel 9, if they had had their eyes and ears open, if they had had their wits about them, if they knew the scriptures, they would have known they were at the very time when the Messiah was to come because Daniel 9, as you know, tells you the very day he would ride into Jerusalem on that donkey 483 years after the command to rebuild Jerusalem.And that day was coming up very soon.They would have recognized wow, the Messiah must be among us and he’s going to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey.That’s what the scripture said.They would have known that Jesus was the Messiah if they knew the scriptures.

Tom:

But Dave, what about John the Baptist?Certainly he knew the scriptures.More than that, he’s the cousin of Jesus.

Dave:

Well he had many signs.

Tom:

He probably had some personal relationship with him and so on, yet—

Dave:

He knew that Jesus was sinless.

Tom:

My point here is that there were so many elements that came into it that should have convinced him, yet it’s how we work sometimes.If things don’t seem to turn out exactly the way (I’m talking experientially now) that we want them to, all the sudden we drift away from what God’s Word says even in our interpretation, our understanding.

Dave:

Well he was about to get his head cut off and that didn’t make sense because he was the one who introduced Jesus to the Jews.He certainly should have had some important post in his government.They thought Jesus was going to take the throne of his father David right away.But here again Tom, I think we get an important lesson.Now from Solomon you’ve been emphasizing he had a lot of wisdom and understanding, but somehow he seemed to lack the heart to serve the Lord.You would think that John the Baptist had the heart.I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.He was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb it says.As a fetus, he leapt with joy when he heard the voice of Mary announcing she was pregnant of the Holy Ghost and would give birth to the Messiah.What was John’s problem then?Jesus said there is not a greater prophet that has risen than John the Baptist.But he didn’t know the scriptures either.Remember Jesus took the two on the road to Emmaus, he took them to task.You fools!Slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!Jesus takes them to task because they have not paid attention to everything the prophets spoke.John the Baptist, if he had paid attention to all the prophets had spoke, he would know that Jesus had to be rejected.He wasn’t going to take the throne of his father now.He was going to be crucified.He should have known that.

Tom:

Dave, Jesus it seems to me, answered the questions of John the Baptist that the two who were sent from John the Baptist asked.His reference was to the scriptures.He did the same with those on the road to Emmaus.It’s the scriptures.Belief in the scriptures that will keep us straight with regard to what God is saying.

Dave:

And if we don’t know the scriptures we can’t believe them.So it is so important that we know the scriptures.It’s amazing Tom, here Jesus comes, God manifest in the flesh.He fulfills all the prophecies, he does miracles, his teaching, and everything was sure.But they didn’t recognize him.In fact, they rejected him because of preconceived ideas.It’s very important that as we study the scriptures we don’t come with our own ideas.We allow God to teach us.That’s what we are trying to encourage in our own hearts and among our listeners as well.

Tom:

Right, and we read them, but we have to be willing to obey them.

Dave:

Amen!