Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,
"This is truly the Prophet."
Others said, "This is the Christ."
Some in the crowd began to have faith in Jesus because of his words. It wasn't always necessary for there to be signs, because, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man". He told the crowds that if they believed in him rivers of living water would flow from within them. They did not and could not yet know what this truly meant. But they knew that they were thirsty. And something about Jesus made them believe that he could sate their thirst.
But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David's family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"
Those who began to believe in Jesus did so because he seemed to fulfill the messianic promises of the Scriptures. But those who doubted, who wanted to stop the spread of Jesus' fame, used their knowledge of the Scriptures as a weapon to beat down the hopes of those beginning to believe. They thought they knew where he was from. But even at an earthly level this was false. They didn't realize that he came from heaven, to be sure. But they didn't even realize that he was born in Bethlehem, the city of David. In attempting to be wise they became fools (see Romans 1:22) The messianic claims of Jesus were open to legitimate and honest inquiry, including about how he fulfilled the promises and predictions of the past. But his claims rebuffed pride, and were unresolvable by merely academic dissection. Even now, one person can look at history see that the truth of Christianity appears obvious, that the resurrection was a fact, while another can bring certain presumptions and preconceptions to his study of history that makes Christianity appear to be one religion among many, since the resurrection was, a priori, impossible. It isn't so much of a methodological difference that leads to different results. It is the starting place of the searcher and degree to which their heart is or is not open.
So the Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed."
It is not always the case that the experts have all the answers. As valuable as subject area expertise is, as necessary as it is, it does not preclude the possibility of prejudice. Maybe an entirely objective expert would always produce fair results. But all people are in some measure self-interested. When their own status would be diminished by the results they often have a hard time receiving those results honestly. It isn't necessarily that they consciously plan to deceive others. It is just that they make an exerted effort to keep thinking until they can produce a solution that will keep them in the spotlight. Jesus, however, was more than a mere expert. He was not a highly credentialed academic. He came from the Father and spoke with the voice of truth. He came to bring division, not peace, insofar as people would forever after be either for or against him. And depending on which option they chose everything else about them would be different. Even all of their beliefs would be contingent on their choice for or against Christ. Why? Because God is the most fundamental thing in reality. Or rather, reality is something that exists only in and through its relation to him. And Jesus is God.
Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?
Nicodemus was a man who, although not convinced already, was not closed to the message of Jesus in advance. He was willing to listen and to give him a fair hearing. Unlike most of the other Pharisees he had not chosen against Jesus in advance of truly listening to him. He was humble enough to not be so invested in his own prestige as to regard Jesus as an enemy. The majority of the Pharisees should have been moved by biblical hope in the coming of the messiah enough to listen to one who might plausibly the one. But in this scene only Nicodemus seemed to actually be moved by that hope. Where the others were closed and hostile, Nicodemus was open and even excited, or at least hopeful, that Jesus might be the one.
They answered and said to him,
"You are not from Galilee also, are you?
Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee."
The so-called experts enforced their opinions, not so much by logical argumentation, as by derision of their opponents. Those who were willing to listen to Jesus were a minority who were shouted down rather than debated by the others. So too in our own world are many of the followers of Jesus who believe in him. In the eyes of the world they are often made to seem foolish, and pushed from the public square. But it is not because because they are wrong, although neither are they always right about everything. Still, the reason the world won't listen is because it doesn't want to listen. In a world such as this, a world that seems to have made its decision against Jesus and against God, things seem bleak. Even those who are supposedly Christian guide their lives more along political rather than religious lines. There seems no longer to be room in their hearts for love, justice, or mercy. But here is the hopeful thing: Christianity never looks like it is going to win. It definitely didn't look that way on Good Friday. But it always triumphs in the end. It does this, not by annihilating its opponents, but by moving them to conversion. For now, our best recourse is to do as the Psalmist suggests and take refuge in God.
A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;