what we think we know

Devotions by Jefferson Vann # 2418

John 7:25-30

Joh 7:25 Then some of the Jerusalemites were saying, “Isn’t this the man they are looking for to kill?
Joh 7:26 Yet, look, he’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to him. Can it be true that the authorities know he is the Messiah?
Joh 7:27 But we know where this one is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he is from.”
Joh 7:28 While teaching in the temple, Jesus cried out, “You know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is true. You don’t know him;
Joh 7:29 I know him because I am from him, that one sent me.”
Joh 7:30 Then they tried to arrest him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.

what we think we know

What stands out in this section of John’s Gospel is the confidence with which the Jerusalemites believed they understood the profile of the coming Messiah. Their assumptions felt solid to them—rooted, perhaps, in tradition, popular teaching, or long‑standing cultural expectations. Yet those assumptions were deeply flawed. They thought they knew where the Messiah would come from, how He would appear, and what signs would accompany Him. When Jesus stood before them, fulfilling Scripture in ways they had not anticipated, their certainty became a barrier rather than a doorway. Misplaced confidence hardened into opposition, and opposition led them to attempt the arrest of the very One they had been waiting for.

This raises an important question about the formation of Christology in every generation. How much of what is believed about Christ arises directly from the biblical text, and how much is shaped by inherited traditions, cultural pressures, or theological systems that have accumulated over centuries? The Jerusalemites were not irreligious; they were deeply formed by their context. Yet their context obscured the truth standing in front of them. That possibility should cultivate humility in anyone who seeks to understand Christ faithfully.

This is why the lifelong pursuit of biblical study becomes so precious. Immersing oneself in Scripture is not merely an academic exercise; it is a safeguard against mistaking cultural assumptions for divine revelation. It is also a way of knowing Christ personally, not just conceptually. The desire to “really know what’s there” is not a retreat into text but a movement toward the One who speaks through the text. Jesus described Himself as the One sent by the Father, and those who study Scripture with openness discover not only information about Him but communion with Him. The text becomes the meeting place between the believer and the Sender.

There is a kind of regret that attaches itself to many pursuits in life—paths taken, opportunities missed, efforts that fade. But the pursuit of knowing Christ through His word carries no such shadow. It deepens understanding, strengthens faith, and aligns the heart with the One who calls and commissions. To know Him as Savior is life; to know Him as Sender is mission.

LORD, grant a deeper knowledge of you—both as the One who saves and the One who sends.