John 7:45-52 CSB
Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him?" [46] The servants answered, "No man ever spoke like this!" [47] Then the Pharisees responded to them, "Are you fooled too? [48] Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? [49] But this crowd, which doesn't know the law, is accursed." [50] Nicodemus-the one who came to him previously and who was one of them-said to them, [51] "Our law doesn't judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he's doing, does it?" [52] "You aren't from Galilee too, are you?" they replied. "Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee."
Judge Justly
Close your eyes and visualize the dust motes dancing in the sunlight of the Temple courts. To understand today’s reading, we must step into the mind of a Temple guard.
Imagine: I am a leader of these men. I have trained my whole life to guard these sacred grounds and the priests who serve the God of Heaven. I carry the mantle my father carried before me. I am a man of the Law, sworn to protect this Temple with my life and to arrest any who dare violate God’s word.
The High Priests have given the order. There is a man called Jesus. They say he is a “blind guide,” stirring up the people and leading them into error. I trust the priests; they are the scholars. I will follow my orders. I will find this man who thinks he is someone and bring him in to be judged—and likely, to be put to death.
We move through the narrow streets like a precision machine. The crowd parts before us, people hugging the cold stone walls as our boots rhythmically strike the pavement. The Romans bring fear to these streets, but so do we. Finally, I see him. A group of curious onlookers surrounds him. My hand tightens on my staff; we must prevent these people from being fooled.
But then, we stop. We listen.
We hear his voice. It isn’t the dry, rhythmic chanting of the scribes or the academic debates of the schools. His words carry an authority that vibrates in the air. My heart stirs with a conviction I’ve never felt—a sudden, desperate hunger for more of these words. This is a man, yes, but his words are something else entirely. They are life.
I cannot arrest him. I turn to my men, and in their eyes I see the war being waged. Their souls are wrestling just as mine. We lower our weapons.
I return to the hall of the Sanhedrin, prepared for the fallout. I have a wife and children to feed. I could lose my rank, my job, my very place in the Temple in shame. But I stand my ground before the scowling faces of the elite.
“Why didn’t you bring him?” the priests demand.
My voice is steady, though my future hangs in the balance: “No man ever spoke like this!”
The sneers are immediate. “Are you fooled too?” they hiss. They mock the crowd, calling them “accursed”—branding them as too uneducated to know the Law. But then, a voice of reason cuts through the toxicity.
It is Nicodemus.
There are whispers that our spies saw him slipping away from where Jesus was staying late one night, but he ignores the risk and stands among his peers. He reminds them of the foundation of justice: the Law does not judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he is doing. He calls them back to the truth that before a person is condemned, there must be a fair and thorough investigation. You cannot judge a man before you hear his voice.
The other priests turn their venom on him. “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?” They deride the man who might have just saved my position. Their pride so blinds them—convinced that nothing good comes from Galilee—that they cannot hear the truth standing right in front of them.
Reflection Questions
- The guard risked his livelihood because he recognized that Jesus was “different.” Have you ever had to choose between “following orders” (social pressure/work culture) and following the truth of Christ’s words?
- What is it about the words of Jesus that cuts through the noise of our world today? Is there a specific teaching of His that “stirs your soul” like it did the guards?
- The Pharisees dismissed Jesus based on where He was from. Are there people or situations you are dismissing today because of “outward appearances” or bias, rather than looking for the truth?
Prayer
Father,
Give us the ears of the temple guards—ears that can hear Your truth even when it contradicts the world around us. Give us the courage of Nicodemus to speak up for what is right, even when we are surrounded by voices of judgment. Help us to never become so “educated” in our own eyes that we fail to be amazed by the authority of Your Son. May we be bold enough to follow Him, no matter the cost.
Amen.
