Nicodemus saith unto them,...Doth our law judge any man,

before it hear him and know what he doeth? (John 7: 50 & 51)

Note in this passage that the entirety of the Jewish leadership was raging against Jesus. They continued to do so even when their own "officers" of the guard had testified to Jesus' powerful authority. They had already made up their minds against Jesus, as they testified against themselves in verse 48. Then, they are able to justify calling anyone who refuses to believe the way they do, "deceived."

Does this sound familiar to anyone but me? Have you ever witnessed persecution in your church or denomination of someone who, in good conscience, questions the denomination's rulers on any Biblical point? If you haven't, just read some church history, or ask God to open your ears to hear. You will soon know what I am talking about.

Perhaps you are a leader yourself. Maybe you are a pastor, Sunday school teacher or elder. No matter. If your eyes are opened to something being held to that does not align with scripture, come against it, even as Nicodemus did. Nicodemus didn't make a large point of defending Jesus. We don't hear of him again, until he and Joseph tended Jesus' body. But, here he did risk his entire reputation and livelihood to simply define what the Jewish law said. Should we not do at least as much for Jesus??