25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” 30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” (John 7:25-31 – English Standard Version)
In Jesus times, there were people who knew every well about the Old Testament but did not believe that Jesus is the Christ – the Messiah. The Old Testament recorded many prophesies about the Messiah. I believe the Jews in Jesus times were familiar with the prophesies, but they could not connect Jesus with the Messiah being described. They believed the Messiah is someone else. There are many people know the Bible but do not understand the Bible. They make solid conclusion based on false understanding of what the Bible says. There are always two sides of opinion on a subject matter. Some people know Jesus is the Christ and some people believe the Christ has not yet come. The two opinions are contradicting to each other but both sides have a strong basis leading to that conclusion. Apparently, one of the basis is incorrect because there is only one truth. We may come across many contradicting opinions and sometimes it is difficult to decide which opinion is sound. We need to ask God for the wisdom to discern the basis for our belief. If the basis is not sound, most likely there would be flaw in our belief.
