John 7

Reading John 8 today, but I want to focus on the end of chapter 7 so go ahead and read it for context.  I always crack up at the last few verses of chapter 7.  Verse 52 the Pharisees are rebuking Nicodemus for partially standing up for Jesus by asking them to examine their actions to the accuracy of the law.  Their reply is this: “Are you from Galilee, too?  Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

Did these religious leaders really just say this?  Those who are supposed to know the scripture; those whom have memorized word for word the first five books of the Old Testament and then some. 

Check this out - In the Old Testament there was a prophet named Jonah.  Maybe you have heard the story.  Jonah was told by God to go and preach against a city called Nineveh.  Jonah didn’t want to do it so he ran from God, hopped on a boat and attempted to sail away.  Long story made short: Jonah jumped off the boat, was swallowed by a big fish, puked up, and eventually successfully preached in Nineveh and people turned from their sin and to God.  Lots more in this story… we can tackle that some other time.

We discover where Jonah is from in 2 Kings 14:25 – “spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.”  Gath Hepher is located about 3 miles north-east of Nazareth.  Gath Hepher is in Galilee!

This raises a question in my mind.  Did the Pharisees not know Jonah was from Galilee?  If they knew, were they trying to hide something?  The scripture doesn’t answer that question for us, but here is something to check out:

Read Matthew 12:38-42

“Sign of Jonah” – I love that Jesus makes a connection with the prophet from Galilee to point to his future death, burial, and resurrection.  The prophet that came from Galilee was used by God to preach to a city and the entire city turned to God and now God is magnifying it by coming to earth to save more than just a city, but rather the entire world by dying, spending 3 days in the belly of the earth, and rising again. 

Some other cool things to note about this passage:

“Jonah” in Hebrew is “Yonah,” which means “dove.”  Matthew 12:39 mentions Jonah, but the language is in Greek, not Hebrew.  But, the word used for Jonah in the Matthew passage means “dove” as well. 

Now, let’s also look at when Jesus started his ministry.  Check out Luke 3:21-23.  Go ahead and read that.

Did you see it?  Jesus started his ministry being baptized in the Jordan river and dove is part of the story.  Take how you will, but I think that is awesome.

Your thoughts?