“Jumping to conclusions”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, August 26, 2022
John 7:37-52 (Forward, p. 28) CEV p. 1110
It has been said, of certain people, that the most strenuous exercise they ever get is the practice of jumping to conclusions. Here, in today’s passage, we find a splendid example of this. Earlier on, in the passage selected for yesterday, we hear some in the crowd saying, in response to the suggestion that Jesus might be the long-awaited Messiah, “But how could that be? No one knows where the Messiah will come from, but we know where this man comes from” (verse 27). They are jumping to the conclusion that, because they know that Jesus was raised in Nazareth, that He was necessarily born there.
Now, in today’s passage we have a crowd that is slightly more informed, as least to what they believe the Scriptures say about the birthplace of the Messiah: “Can the Messiah come from Galilee? The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn’t this mean that he will be born in David’s hometown of Bethlehem” (verse 42). In this, they are certainly correct, but once again, they are jumping to conclusions, to false ones in fact. And the same is true of the Pharisees a bit later. They too assume that no prophet can come from Galilee—that is, where Jesus was raised. In both cases, they assume that they have all the facts, especially the facts about Jesus’ birth, readily at hand. But, as we know, they didn’t. Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem, just as the Scriptures predicted.
However, I would suggest that the inclination to jump to conclusions without a proper array of the fact at hand is true today as well, and true of pretty well all of us. We jump to false or inappropriate conclusions all the time, about ourselves, about others, and certainly about God. We come to these conclusions without taking the time and effort to explore and weigh all the facts, all the circumstances. And, certainly part of this, is that we rush into things, not wanting to wait until all the facts come to light or until we can gain a bit of perspective.
This, I would suggest, is one of the most grievous problems with much mainstream news reporting these days. Spurred on perhaps by the immediacy social media posts there is a mad scramble to get the story out there—often when the details are sparse, and any sense of perspective just isn’t there yet. There just isn’t the chance to hear people out, hear other voices and perspectives, and get a fuller sense of what is going on.
And sad to say, this can happen just as easily in our families, churches, communities and countries. Instead, we just need to wait and hold off judgment, at least for now. We need to avoid ‘jumping to conclusions.’ Amen.
Forward notes: “Nicodemus...who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’” (verses 50-51)
“For me, heroes are explorers who venture to mountaintops and sea bottoms, caverns and thick forests. They go fearlessly into uncharted territories and return with glorious discoveries. Nicodemus is one of these, a hero who visits Jesus at night to ask important questions. For him, knowledge outshines fear.
“Nicodemus steps up again when the Pharisees attack Jesus during the Feast of the Tabernacles (also known as the Festival of the Booths). This time it is in public, where everyone knows him as a member of the Sanhedrin. His reputation and life at risk, Nicodemus nonetheless insists that the law—hearing before judging—is the reason to listen to Jesus. Like a good explorer, he is unafraid to venture into dangerous territory.
“Nicodemus teaches us to ask questions honestly and listen to the answers—a living example of what Jesus says: ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water’”
Moving Forward: “Who are some of your heroes of the faith?
