Sunday Morning Devotions

SUNDAY, 21 MAY 2023

TEXT: John 7:40-52

40. When the crowd heard Jesus say this, some of them said, “He must be the Prophet!”

41. Others said, “He is the Messiah!“ Others even said, “Can the Messiah come from Galilee?

42. The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn’t this mean that he will be born in David’s hometown of Bethlehem?”

43. The people started taking sides against each other because of Jesus.

44. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.

45. When the temple police returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, they were asked, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus here?”

46. They answered, “No one has ever spoken like this man!”

47. The Pharisees said to them, “Have you also been fooled?

48. Not one of the chief priests or the Pharisees has faith in him.

49. And these people who don’t know the Law are under God’s curse anyway.”

50. Nicodemus was there at the time. He was a member of the council, and was the same one who had earlier come to see Jesus. He said,

51. “Our Law doesn’t let us condemn people before we hear what they have to say. We cannot judge them before we know what they have done.”

52. Then they said, “Nicodemus, you must be from Galilee! Read the Scriptures, and you will find that no prophet is to come from Galilee.”

(Contemporary English Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: REACTIONS TO THE WORD OF GOD

When the crowds in this passage heard the words of Jesus Christ, some of them declared that He was indeed the long expected Prophet. Others said that He was the Messiah. But some still denounce Him because of their ignorance of the prophecy about Him and His lineage.

This reminds us about how people react to the sermons they hear: some believe and are blessed while others go back home the same way they came – without being blessed.

Often, people are in church but their attention is on their phones, they are talking to their partners or doing other things that distract them. Are you one of such people?

QUESTION: How do you react to the Word when it is preached?

PRAYER: Dear Father, please give me a discernment of heart and faith as I hear Your Word. Amen.