They did their best to shut him down. But we know why they failed
By Dean Collins
Some who were alive during the 33 years Jesus lived on earth thought it best to shut Jesus down. They sensed his rising popularity and saw him as a threat. In fact, the apostle John gives us a hint in the fourth Gospel of the attempts and desires of some religious leaders who simply wanted the teaching of Jesus to go away. They would have preferred that someone simply shut it down or shut him down.
To shut it down means there is an effort to stop the discussion, the influence, and the momentum because if things progress well you might not be able to control it. That seems to be the tone of the chief priests and the Pharisees when they spoke to the officers they had sent earlier to arrest Jesus. (v. 32). The officers came back empty-handed and were being questioned about why they had failed.
“No one ever spoke like this man,” they said.
‘No one ever spoke like this man.’
I have heard some speakers and preachers who were captivating. There are some presenters whose knowledge and presentation style stands out above their peers and the masses. We think of Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy, for example. Or Socrates, Abraham Lincoln, and even Adolf Hitler. Each historical figure or modern-day presenter of renown has a presence, a passion, and/or compelling content. Jesus certainly had all of these, and the officers reported as much. Time and time again in the Gospel records we see how Jesus drew others to himself through his teaching, his interactions with others, and by the Spirit of God inside of him.
Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well, Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, the thief on the cross, the Roman soldier at the foot of the cross, Pilate, and many more we could mention might all say the same thing about Jesus: “No one ever spoke like this man.” We might also say no one ever behaved like this man. The loving-kindness of Jesus was apparent in his interactions with children, the poor, the sick, and sinners.
We might also say no one ever behaved like this man.
When the officers disappointed the chief priests and Pharisees and gave testimony to the power of Jesus’ teaching, they were questioned to see if they, too, had decided to follow him. There was a desire to arrest Jesus with accusations that he was breaking the law. Nicodemus spoke up that certainly it would be appropriate to give Jesus a fair hearing. The chief priests made a snide remark, accusing Nicodemus of being in the camp of Jesus, and argued strongly that no prophet arises from Galilee.
We know from scripture how this story ends. Ultimately there was a false arrest and mock trial of Jesus that resulted in his torture and his crucifixion. But death could not hold Jesus. His life, death, and resurrection accomplished what God ordained for Jesus to do for our good, for the good of the world, and of all people for all time.
His life, death, and resurrection accomplished what God ordained for Jesus to do.
No one can shut down the life and purposes of God that flow through his kingdom. The Lord of all is the ultimate authority on when and what will be shut down and when, what, and how the full redemption and restoration of all things will occur.
May the love of God, the grace of God, and the mercy of God flow through our words and deeds today and every day. We can endure difficulty because Jesus has gone before us and is with us now.
Your time with God’s Word
John 7:32, 45-53 ESV
Photo by Abbat at Unsplash.com.
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