… no prophet arises from Galilee.

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Book of Isaiah, catholic encyclopedia, chief priests, Deuteronomy, Gospel of John, Isaiah, Israel, Jesus, John, Micah, Nazareth, Nicodemus, Pharisee, postaday, Prophet, Psalms, religion, Samuel

March 24, 2012 – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent. The reading is from Gospel of John 7:40-52

Some in the crowd who heard these words said, “This is truly the Prophet.”

Others said, “This is the Messiah.”

But others said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not scripture say that the Messiah will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”

The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this one.”

So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.”

Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?”

They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

A note about Nazareth

From The Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1923.

There is no consensus regarding the origin of the name “Nazareth”. It is not mentioned in pre-Christian texts and in the New Testament it appears in many different Greek forms.

One theory holds that the name “Nazareth” is derived from the Hebrew noun ne·ṣer, נֵ֫צֶר, meaning branch. (“Nazareth”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911)

The negative references to Nazareth in the Gospel of John suggest that ancient Jews did not connect the town’s name to prophecy. Ne·ṣer is not the common Hebrew word for “branch,” but one understood as a messianic title based on a passage in the Book of Isaiah:

But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. (Isaiah 11:1)

From today’s reading

Some in the crowd who heard these words said, “This is truly the Prophet.” (John 7:40)

Read these:

A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen. (Deutronomy 18:15)

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kindred, and will put my words into the mouth of the prophet; the prophet shall tell them all that I command. (Deutronomy 18:18)

Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? (John 7:48)

John tells the same in Chapter 12 also:

Nevertheless, many, even among the authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not acknowledge it openly in order not to be expelled from the synagogue. (John 12:42)

Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, (John 7:50)

John tells about Nicodemus is in these verses also:

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. (John 3:1)

Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. (John 19:39)

the Davidic lineage of the Messiah

In John we read:

Does not scripture say that the Messiah will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” (John 7:42)

Some Jews expected the Messiah to arise from the line of David as said in the scriptures.

Samuel then took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Jeshanah; he named it Ebenezer, explaining, “As far as this place the LORD has been our help.” Thus were the Philistines subdued, never again to enter the territory of Israel, for the hand of the LORD was against them as long as Samuel lived. The cities from Ekron to Gath which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to them. Israel also freed the territory of these cities from Philistine domination. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. (Samuel 7:12-14)

For I said, “My mercy is established forever; my faithfulness will stand as long as the heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: (Psalms 89:3-4)

The LORD swore an oath to David in truth, he will never turn back from it: “Your own offspringe I will set upon your throne. (Psalms 132:11)

But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah least among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. (Micah 5:1)

They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:5-6)

No prophet arises from Galilee

Philip was convinced that he had found the Messiah spoken of by Moses and the prophets in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. So, he sought Nathanael and said, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” (John 1:45)

Nathanael, a Galilean himself retorted, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46)

This goes to prove that even a Galilean could not believe that a great prophet would come out of Nazareth.

So it was to be expected when the Pharisees derided Nicodemus by saying: “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” (John 7:52b)