PICK A SIDE

40-44 Those in the crowd who heard these words were saying, “This has to be the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah!” But others were saying, “The Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does He? Don’t the Scriptures tell us that the Messiah comes from David’s line and from Bethlehem, David’s village?” So there was a split in the crowd over Him. Some went so far as wanting to arrest Him, but no one laid a hand on Him.

45 That’s when the Temple police reported back to the high priests and Pharisees, who demanded, “Why didn’t you bring Him with you?”

46 The police answered, “Have you heard the way He talks? We’ve never heard anyone speak like this Man.”

47-49 The Pharisees said, “Are you carried away like the rest of the rabble? You don’t see any of the leaders believing in Him, do you? Or any from the Pharisees? It’s only this crowd, ignorant of God’s Law, that is taken in by Him—and damned.”

50-51 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus earlier and was both a ruler and a Pharisee, spoke up. “Does our Law decide about a man’s guilt without first listening to him and finding out what he is doing?”

52-53 But they cut him off. “Are you also campaigning for the Galilean? Examine the evidence. See if any prophet ever comes from Galilee.”

Then they all went home. (MSG Bible)

Main Point: There will always be division associated with Jesus, only true love can help us to know which side to be on.

Our world is no stranger to division and divides. There are cultural, ethnic, sociological, political and religious divides all over the world. How do we know which side is the right side? Who is right and who is wrong? Maybe we should pick one and hope for the best.

In this chapter we can see the crowds of people, the pharisees and even the guards sent to arrest Jesus are divided about something. There were people who had encountered Jesus and believe very strongly in Him. There were also people who opposed Him and what He had to say about Himself. The truth is our world is still split over Jesus. Notice the portion of scripture above where it says “there was a split in the crowd over Him”. To be honest, sometimes I sense this split within myself. “Should I trust Jesus and take Him at His word or not”, is what I may be thinking to myself sometimes. You may even hear others telling you not to trust in God or hope in God. Notice the portion of scripture above where the pharisees say “Are you carried away like the rest of the rabble? You don’t see any of the leaders believing in him, do you?”.

So what do we do? The answer is to choose. As we choose to trust in Jesus, He allows us to see His faithfulness and goodness to be demonstrated in our lives. God loves us and desires to bless us. How do we know this? Just remember the cross. Remember Jesus died for you and gave Himself for you before you could do anything for Him. Divisive thoughts will come. Divisive comments from others will be made. Just know that in trusting Jesus you will never be put to shame. The foundation of trust is love. The right side to be on is love. There is no greater love than what Jesus has shown us through the cross. So choose.

Deeper Focus:

- Do you have any divided thoughts about Jesus? Is what you are seeing not lining up with what you believe?

- When you are tempted to doubt yourself or even doubt God, remember how much you are loved.

- Take a few moments today and reflect on the value God has placed on you. The Father gave us Jesus, His son. Ask yourself this question "what would love have me do?"