The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
In John 7:40-44 the dispute at the Feast of Tabernacles continues. Some think Jesus must be the Christ. Some think he must be “the prophet.” They debate whether he comes from Bethlehem, the city of David, where the Christ is supposed to come from. They know Jesus as being from Galilee, not Bethlehem. Some want to protect Jesus. Some want to arrest him.
It is often difficult to bring a clear understanding of Jesus to our world. Not only do people have a nature which is bent against trusting him, they also usually lack the background to think clearly about him and his claims. So often the knowledge of God is mediated by our own wisdom, our own presuppositions, our own cultural conditioning.
May we, like these people in John 7, look to the Scripture to understand what God and His kingdom might be like.
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