When Good Comes
When Nathanael first heard of Jesus he said “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” in John 1:46. This statement tells a lot not only about Jesus, but also about Nazareth and the speaker of such a statement itself. He acknowledges that such news of Jesus is good. Though he questions the origins of the claim and the source. Later religious leaders reiterated on this in John 7, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”
How do we approach the blessings that come in our day-to-day lives? Do we even see them as blessings? Or do they latch onto the things that seemingly shape it to be viewed as negative?
This very example of the Pharisees questioning Jesus because of where he came from prevents them from reaping the fruit of receiving the blessing that is acceptance of His arrival. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, you see this over and over again to the point where the Pharisees' hearts continued to harden to the point of crucifying Jesus on the cross. Now, why is it that they did not sit and ask questions with a more neutral approach and a desire to understand, as Nicodemus did, or better yet receive and follow as Nathaniel did? Not that we even know if Nicodemus became a follower of Jesus according to scripture, but he at least chose to hear and have conversation with Him directly. Why is it that most of the time we see the Pharisees asking questions, it is in a public format, in an act to discredit His words and teachings? You could say that it was their hearts that were set to the start. Like a bottle enclosed under heat, the bottle is sure to burst, and in this case, it was their hearts hardening to the point of condemning the only innocent person in all of existence.
How often in our days do we see something that is good and immediately jump to its history? Say, for instance, a rescue animal, specifically a pit bull. Now you can probably see where I am going with this… The history of what society deems of pitbulls is that they are dangerous. But how many times have we met those pit bulls that are the sweetest things? Too often, we think of the negative possibilities of accepting a blessing because of generalizations or in the name of “data”. In this case, the Pharisees questioned the blessing because of the town in which He was raised. However, if they had gotten the chance to know him a little more by following Him, they would learn He was born in the town of Bethlehem, a fulfillment of the prophecy of the line of David.