John 7:40-52

John 7:40-52 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Nicodemus asks an interesting question in this day and age -- Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing?
  In the days of social media and watching the internet's fury when it rises up at a target, the answer would seem to be no.  As someone once said, a lie can make it halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.  A headline or rumor, even a truth misconstrued, can lead a crowd into rushing into judgment, even when its undeserved.  Passion seems to rule over waiting for all the details to come to light.
  Interesting that it seems like things haven't changed much in a few thousand years.  Human nature is still the same -- we want certainty so badly that we're willing to brush over details or the risk of being wrong in order to obtain it. 
  In Jesus' case, had the group bothered to learn the full story, they would have discovered that he was born in Bethlehem.  An important detail escaped notice because the crowd was too busy rushing to judgment.
  In our case, we're wise to restrain our passions until we can be certain that they are properly directed.  The church and its collective wisdom can often be a great place to discern where the Spirit is leading.  The church certainly isn't perfect, and can be accused of discussing for too long before turning to action, but rash action has risks as well.  To quote another pastor, the risk of us rushing to judgment is that we pull up the wheat along with the weeds, focusing on Matthew 13.  May we listen well, speak with trust, and collectively discern how God is calling us to act together to proclaim the Gospel in this day and age.