Lent - Day Thirty - Making A Big Splash

John  Chapter 7 Verses 40 to 52 

The Law does not allow us to pass judgment on a man without hearing him

Several people, who had been listening to Jesus said, ‘Surely he must be the prophet’, and some said, ‘He is the Christ’, but others said, ‘Would the Christ be from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?’ So the people could not agree about him. Some would have liked to arrest him, but no one actually laid hands on him.

  The police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, ‘Why haven’t you brought him?’ The police replied, ‘There has never been anybody who has spoken like him.’ ‘So’ the Pharisees answered ‘you have been led astray as well? Have any of the authorities believed in him? Any of the Pharisees? This rabble knows nothing about the Law – they are damned.’ One of them, Nicodemus – the same man who had come to Jesus earlier – said to them, ‘But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgment on a man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?’ To this, they answered, ‘Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.’

As I walked along today, the heat was just as hot as always but I did not seem to mind it so much.  Uriah says we are getting closer to our destination and the mountains are finally in what appears to be in walking distance.  He says before we can get to the mountains we have to go through territory that once was a large salt lake.  He says if you like sand, you will love salt.  He also cautions us to stay away from plants that appear to be succulent and ripe with water as they will lay you low if not kill you outright.  He says once we get through this purgatory the way will become easier and cooler.  There will be streams of cold water flowing and the heat of the desert will become a distant memory.  So, I spent the day thinking about my childhood.  I lived in the country and worked on the family farm.  But my Dad wanted me to have free time as well so he did not make me a slave of the land.  I helped out, of course, but he let me be a boy and I was able to hang out with my friends.  As the sun was poaching my noodle and the prospect of spending several days walking through salt, my mind wandered to the old swimming hole at St. Francis' Creek.  It was more than a creek, it was almost as wide and deep to be called a river.  We used to fish there and there were times when I was the one that provided the dinner for the household by bringing in a bunch of catfish.  Mom took care of all of the cleaning and cooking and I swear that when it was put before us along with cornbread and greens, it was a little bit of heaven!  But we guys used the creek for swimming.  You can imagine that our swimming attire was lacking but our birthday suits never went out of style during those carefree summer days so we didn't care.  I felt the breeze hit me as I swung out on the rope trying to get as close to the center of the creek as possible and then I let go of the rope and felt weightless for a second and then relished the feeling the of icy cold water pulling me down as I splashed down like a space capsule sending water high into the sky!  It was time that I will always remember with great fondness.   

When the Master spoke today He spoke on how Jesus made a big splash Himself when He was on earth.  He brought attention to Himself and the Pharisees and the Temple management was running scared.  Considering the procurator, Pilate, was not very fond of the Jews and in fact had killed some of them on the Temple grounds, well, they just did not need a messiah coming on the scene to stir things up.  So they sent temple militia to arrest him and haul him before the Sanhedrin.  Off they went, but then they heard Him speak and they were amazed as was the large crowd.  The prudence of a soldier was woven into the temple guards and they returned to the high priest and his cronies without the so-called messiah.  But it was not just the presence of all of the people that would have protested his arrest and have caused a riot which Pilate would be only too glad to quell.  No, it was what was said, the words were powerful and unlike other messiahs that cropped up from time to time, this Jesus did not advocate violence.  How they would get rid of the cursed Romans without bloodshed was beyond their way of thinking.  But He did not even advocate war against Rome of the emperor. So, the guards came back empty-handed.  In the council, Jesus had few friends.  But He had Nicodemus, the man who had visited Him in the night, you know when it was safe.  It was he who said that before a man could be condemned there had to be an opportunity for the man to state what his teachings and there must be witnesses to an infraction.  This annoyed the powers in the Temple who just wanted to rid themselves of this Jesus.  He was making a splash with the people and large gatherings were hearing His message.  He was making a big splash but the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes all wondered if the splash would come at the cost of Jewish blood.  They made note the sentiments and loyalties of Nicodemus, he would not be summoned when the time came for the Sanhedrin to deal with this charlatan.  They began to plot in earnest against Jesus and a gaggle of Pharisees followed Him wherever He went.  The sun began to set for the man called Jesus.  Once the temple management wanted you gone, it was only a matter of time before you were stoned (mercifully) or crucified (unmercifully).  The followers of Jesus would take note that the Pharisees had sent a team of their best goaders who would do their utmost to trip Jesus up.  They never failed, never.  But this Jesus would be the one to spoil their record and even when they were rejoicing at the sight of Jesus dying in public view on the cross, they would later come to understand that in spite of their wishes that the mission of Jesus, the Messiah foretold of old, had been accomplished in spite and not because of them.  One interesting thing, one of the Apostles, Judas Iscariot by name was more worldly than the others and he could see the writing on the wall.  Far be it from him to be on a losing team.  He began to ponder ways to profit from betraying The Christ.