John 7

So today one of my thoughts was about the verses 25-27.

In these verses the people are talking about what the Pharisees and the authorities are thinking about Jesus.

"Isn't this the man they are trying to kill?" 'but He's speaking publicly and no one is saying anything to Him.' "Have they concluded that He is the Christ?"

This was all speculation about what they were thinking about Jesus, and it would ultimately be swaying how they react because of the authorities.

But the thing is that you can't just go off what other people think of Jesus. You need to come to an understanding yourself, and even more is that God needs to reveal Himself to you. In Matthew's recorded version of Peter's confession of Christ Jesus says "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven." (Matt 16:17)

And as shown again and again in the last chapter "no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him" (John 6:44,65).

At the end of the chapter the Pharisees are discussing Jesus and we see that some people are not swayed by the crowds, specifically Nicodemus who was the only one in the crowd to defend Jesus.

So, verse 24 Jesus tells us "Stop judging by appearances and make a right judgement."

This should be what we seek to do. To not just see what we think Jesus is, but to really seek who He is and see Him for more of who He is each day.