JOHN 7:40-52 IS THAT JESUS OR YOUR OWN VOICE?

40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “He is the Christ.”
Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared.
47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

If you do not listen how can you hear? The members of the crowd who said Jesus was the Prophet or the Christ did so “on hearing his words.” The guards did not seize Jesus because they had never heard anyone speak “the way this man does.” And Nicodemus had had an audience with Jesus as recorded in chapter 3. The others were hung up on their own expectations and unable to hear. They were interested in where Jesus came from geographically so they could not understand where he “was coming from.”

Our expectations are the filter through which we sort out the “noise” that is picked up by our ears. Does this or that make sense? This is music and that is just noise. This is a cogent argument while that is nothing but the ravings of a madman. This is the song of a bird, and that is a worn out bearing in my car’s water pump. Expectations are those lessons that we learn in the school of experience that help us made sense of our world. If Scripture is to be the authority in the life of a Christian, then the corporate experience of God’s people in dealing with God’s Word must provide such a filter for decision-making.

The danger is that we tend to concentrate on the filter and stop hearing the sounds. This might be more easily seen if we switch from our ears to our eyes. In that case, the filters would be the lenses through which we are enabled to see objects. These lenses can be eyeglasses, magnifying lenses or telescopes. They are great tools for being able to see the otherwise “invisible.” But if we focus on the lens, we become functionally blind to the object we are trying to view. Such is the danger of expectations. When expectations become the focus of our understanding then our ability to hear and receive the revelation of truth is greatly diminished, perhaps even eliminated. Our focus must be on Jesus, even Scripture is authoritative only in that it points us to Jesus.

Lord, open my ears to truly hear you as the Word of God. May I not be guilty any longer of not listening to you but fitting you into the categories of my understanding. Refresh my spiritual ears through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.