Preconceived Notions

John 7.37-52

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, ‘This is really the prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’ But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not arrest him?’ The police answered, ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’ Then the Pharisees replied, ‘Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’ They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.’

Reflection

While I’m a proud fan of Boston’s baseball team, there is one part of being a Red Sox fan that makes me cringe: chants, t-shirts, bumper stickers and other media proclaiming that “Yankees Suck.” It’s crude. It’s unnecessary. And, it’s all too often untrue (it’s surreal to hear this being chanted when the Sox are trailing the Yankees in a game). The New Yorkers may be our unlovable foes to the South but head-to-head, they have it all over the hometown team in the W-L department. Still, that doesn’t stop many fans from sharing this sentiment.

Today’s reading from John reminds us that never letting the truth get in the way of one’s preconceptions has an ancient pedigree. The Pharisees just “knew” who the Messiah was supposed to be, what kind of background he’d have, where he’d call home. It didn’t matter that God could choose to act in ways that upended human expectations. Beliefs were beliefs and reality wasn’t going to get in the way!

This story should encourage us to be open-minded in our faith, to seek inspiration from all sources (it’s God’s universe, after all), to never discount or diminish someone because he or she doesn’t fit our notions of what a “Good Christian” should look or sound like. God surprised us in Jesus – and God continues to surprise us today.