John 7:25-27 25Therefore, some of those from Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26And look! He speaks openly, and they say nothing to him! Perhaps truly the authorities know that this man is the Christ? 27But we know where this man comes from, but when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”
These opening verses of the next section highlight how the plot of John’s Gospel begins to thicken more with another reference to people trying to kill Jesus. Some in the crowd appear passive, confused, or perhaps naive in these verses, but they represent the journey of the skeptic or the reader who has not figured out Jesus yet. Those in Jerusalem would have been more aware of the political forces and opinions of the Jewish leaders. The rumor had circulated among the people that the leaders were after Jesus. The surprise was that the leaders did not try to arrest or even kill Jesus. It was one thing to hate him and another to get rid of him. He was very public, teaching in the temple courts. Many people heard and saw him. Their questions in these verses could have made the leaders jealous because Jesus was taken the people’s allegiance away from them.
The people’s question echoes the question of the authorities: was Jesus the Christ? The people saw the negative response of the leaders, which may have influenced the people’s response to Jesus. The leaders’ lack of faith was having a trickle down affect so that the crowds began to question something so obvious. The way leaders act will have an effect on those they lead. Verse 27 takes a negative turn in the story and shows the lack of faith among the people in Jerusalem. Their statement is based on a faulty assumption that the Messiah will appear from nowhere, almost magical, and somehow free the people and restore Israel to its glory. They had heard of Jesus’ origin from Nazareth in Galilee. He did not have the pedigree or fit their expectations. For being citizens of the sophisticated Jerusalem, these people did not know Scripture well or observe the obvious right before them. The evidence is before the reader of John. A decision must be made to accept the claims about Jesus or follow the confused or agnostic way of the crowd or the antagonistic way of the leaders.
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