So they were seeking to stop him [Jesus of Nazareth, c. AD 30 in the Jerusalem Temple], but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. … The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to stop him. … On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, come to me and drink! Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his interior will flow rivers of living water.’” … Some of them wanted to stop him, but no one laid hands on him. … The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “Not ever at any time has a man spoken like this.” … Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 7: 30 – 8: 12, own translation) |
Maybe never before have there been so many voices speaking… Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and others are full of billions of statements – with millions added daily. And, unlike a generation or two ago, a great deal of discussion is taking place about how to stop people saying things that should not be said.
Governments around the world, irrespective of whether they are regarded as “democratic” or “totalitarian”, a dictatorship or a constitutional monarchy, left-wing or right-wing, seem all to be agreed that they must protect people from the statements of others.
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But is “fake-news” really that? Lord Haw-Haw spoke Nazi propaganda into the UK during the Second world war. Was it right to stop him? What’s “right” depends on one’s point of view. In a book published only a few weeks ago HSBC Mexico was labelled “Too Big to Jail” because of its co-operation with the Sinaloa organised crime syndicate by laundering its criminal drug money. HSBC’s media relations teams have spoken volumes after it was fined nearly $2 billion. Should white-washing be stopped? From whose point of view?
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When Jesus was in Israel (see bold above), the authorities were determined to stop him speaking. The chief priests of the Jerusalem Temple were the guardians of the religious beliefs of the nation. The Pharisees were a political and religious party noted for their meticulous obedience to the law. Together they instructed their officers to stop him. They must bring him to them.
A few days go by and the man is not arrested and brought to them. Why not?
Eventually the officials report back. “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answer their bosses, “Not ever at any time has a man spoken like this.” What they mean is that this one speaking in their Temple is something vastly more than a mere man.
What, on earth, had he spoken.?
In bold red italics above are the two recorded statements of Jesus in that Jerusalem Temple.
Here they are.
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1. “If anyone thirsts, come to me and drink! Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his interior will flow rivers of living water.’”
2. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
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1. These days, Covid-related and Ukraine war-related and money-related, and health-related problems - and other problems - are affecting our insides. Their main effect is to make us fearful that we will have enough. They make us “get” for ourselves. Jesus said that, if “thirsty”, "Come to me and drink." If anyone does that, he said, “Out of his/her interior will flow rivers of living water.” That looks like a 180-degree U-turn - from within.
2. If we allow others to decide what voices we should or should not hear, we may never see any light in the darkness around us. The words spoken by Jesus, to the best of my own knowledge and belief, when spoken by other men, would never be spoken by good men. Ordinary men and women make promises to their followers. Often those promises are not delivered. Those in power in the world will use (and have used) all their power to ensure that their statements will not be stopped. This Jesus of Nazareth was stopped dead in his tracks by those in power. Similarly, are there still powers in the world that are successful, at present, in stopping us from seeing in the darkness? Stopping us from having the light of the LORD God’s own life within?
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