They replied, Are you from Galilee, too?

Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee. John 7 !" Sometimes the most marvellous truths can be found in the seeming innocent questions which are asked in the Scriptures. Lloyd-Jones once commented that whenever he read the Scriptures he did so with a note pad and a pen or pencil at his side. He recognised that there would come those marvellous moments when a truth jumps off the page of the ible and into our minds and hearts and our lives with never be the same as a result. !his is surely what we encounter at the end of the seventh chapter of John"s #ospel when we read about the response that the leaders of the Jews made to $icodemus" reminder to them that they needed to follow the teaching of the law in regard to their relationship with Jesus of $a%areth. &n a somewhat mocking tone they give $icodemus some advice that turns out to be of critical importance for us today. 'erhaps this is John"s intention as he includes this event in his #ospel. !heir advice is this. Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee. !his is of critical importance for us today because it leads us to the only sure way to come to faith in the truth of the #ospel. !his is truth a diligent and careful e(amination of all that the )ord of #od says about Him. &t is said that *ugustine"s conversion was brought about when in a time of despair in his life he overheard some children singing a song that had as its refrain Take and #ead. His response was to flee from the annoyance of the children"s song into his home where he discovered a copy of the $ew !estament which he picked up+ read+ and discovered ,hrist in its message. )e must follow the advice given here in John -./0. Look into it$ 1(amine the Scriptures on this subject. $ow the leaders believed that what would be discovered would be that no prophet would ever come out of #alilee. ,ommentators tell us that there are two possibilities as to their meaning here. 2n both counts the leaders were wrong. !he first is that they were referring to their belief that no prophet would ever come out of #alilee. !he book of 0 3ings 45.0/ tells us that Jonah was of a village in #alilee. So they were wrong on that point. !he second is that they were referring to the promise of the great 'rophet+ the 6essiah that He would not come out of #alilee. &n this they again were incorrect as &saiah 7.4-0 tells us+ %e&ertheless, there will 'e no more (loom for those who were in distress. )n the past *e hum'led the land of +e'ulun and the land of %aphtali, 'ut in the future *e will honour Galilee of the Gentile, 'y way of the sea, alon( the Jordan , the people walkin( in darkness ha&e seen a (reat li(ht- on those li&in( in the shadow of death a li(ht has dawned. $ot only was this a clear answer to their error but the question of the leaders also betrays their ignorance regarding Jesus" origins. He was from #alilee but He was born in ethlehem as both 6athew and Luke make clear to us. !he advice given however is tremendously helpful as it points us to the only way we can discover for ourselves the truth about the L289 Jesus ,hrist. )e are told to look into it: !o turn to the )ord of #od as the only sure means by which we can find out for ourselves what the truth is. )ith our eternity at stake we owe it to ourselves to discover the truth about Him. $othing else will do. 6artyn Lloyd-Jones comments on this in his book Living )ater.

) su((est that the followin( tests 'e applied, and as we do this, they should stren(then our faith and (i&e us a (reat certainty and assurance concernin( our whole position. *ow do ) know that *e is the .hrist? /hat do ) insist upon 'efore ) come to this conclusion? /ell, the first answer is this *e must fulfill the prophecies of the 0ld Testament. ) put that as my first test 'ecause that is what is done in the %ew Testament itself. )n practically e&ery 'ook of the %ew Testament this point is made stron(ly. The Apostle 1aul, for instance, in a &ery typical manner, puts it like this in the 2econd 3pistle to the .orinthians 4or all the promises of God in *im are yea, and in *im are Amen, unto the (lory of God 'y us 56 "78. 5Lloyd9Jones, :. ;artyn, Li&in( /ater, .rossway <ooks, /heaton, )ll., "77=, p. >?=8 Look into it: !hat is #od"s call upon us. ,heck out the evidence #od has given us in His )ord. &n this day and age when ibles can be had in such abundance we have no e(cuse for not e(amining the iblical evidence for ourselves. )e must be assured that there will be no e(cuse when we stand before #od"s judgment throne if we have not e(amined and believed #od"s own testimony about these things.