The Pharisees knew scripture but did not take the time to know the Messiah. The irony is today people claim to know the Messiah but do not take the time to know the scriptures.

John 7:45-52New King James Version (NKJV)

45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”

46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night,[a] being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen[b] out of Galilee.”

The Pharisees knew scripture but did not take the time to know the Messiah. They knew that scripture said the messiah would come from Bethlehem, but they thought Jesus came from Galilee… What if they would have taken the time to search it out? Do you think they may have come to a different conclusion? Jesus was indeed from Bethlehem. They missed it and didn't know it.

The irony today is people claim to know the Messiah but do not take the time to know the scriptures.

Acts 17:10-15 NKJV ¹⁰ Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. ¹³ But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. ¹⁴ Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there.¹⁵ So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.

We are called to be fair minded (open minded)!!!! However, we are also supposed to see if things line up with scripture. We are not supposed to believe everything that e hear without testing it. Many believers today have no idea what scripture says. They hear a sermon or a teaching and that is their gospel. On the other hand some search for hours to prove their point (like the Pharisees), rather than searching the scriptures to find out the truth they search them to prove people wrong.

 John 5:39-40 (NKJV) You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. ⁴⁰ But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

Knowing these things we should be careful not to become imbalanced. We must be fair minded (open minded) and then go search the scriptures to see if what is being taught is true. This will do many things. When we hear a teaching, write down the scriptures and then go look it up -it will begin to show you what truth is and what it is not. Eventually, you will know many different truths of the bible. It will not take you hours and hours of studying to test (1 Thessalonians 5:21) the things you hear. You will learn like a child in elementary school, little by little, and not even realize how much you are actually picking up. It will also alert you when the teaching isn't necessarily lining up. 

The Pharisees said no prophet came from Galilee (v. 52) but there were several prophets that came from Galilee. Jonah, Hosea, and perhaps Elijah, Elisha, and Amos were from Galilee or at least close to it. Not to mention, Jesus was not born there but they assumed he was. The scriptures they were referring to said exactly what they claimed it said. The Messiah was to come from Bethlehem. This should raddle you a bit. This means you can know the truth and still not know Jesus. We must know Him. If we know scripture but we do not know Jesus, then it is useless to us. We need to be intimate with Him. Know Him for ourselves, like a friend.


Jesus wants to have a relationship with you…

Deuteronomy 4:29 (NKJV) But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Romans 5:8 ESV But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 6:40 ESV For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

1 John 1:9 ESV If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

John 3:16 ESV “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.