Power to Discriminate Between Right and Wrong

God does not compel people to give up their unbelief. He wants them to decide not from impulse but from the weight of evidence, carefully comparing scripture with scripture. If the Jews had compared written prophecy with the facts, they would have recognized a beautiful harmony between the prophecies and their fulfillment in the life and ministry of the humble Galilean.HH 212.5

Many are deceived today in the same way as the Jews were. Religious teachers read the Bible in the light of their traditions, and the people do not search the Scriptures for themselves. They give up their own judgment and commit their destiny to their leaders. Whoever will prayerfully study the Bible in order to obey it will receive divine enlightenment. He will understand the Scriptures. “Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.” NRSV.HH 213.1

On the last day of the feast, the officers who had been sent to arrest Jesus returned without Him. The leaders angrily asked, “Why have you not brought Him?” They answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”HH 213.2

Even hearts as hard as theirs were melted by His words. While He was speaking, they had lingered near to catch something to turn against Him. But as they listened, Christ revealed Himself to their hearts. They saw what priests and rulers would not see—humanity flooded with the glory of divinity.HH 213.3

The priests and rulers had felt the same conviction when they first came into Christ’s presence. Their hearts were deeply moved and the thought came forcibly to them, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” But they had stifled the Holy Spirit’s conviction. Now, enraged, they cried, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”HH 213.4

Those who hear the message of truth seldom ask, “Is it true?” but instead ask, “Who supports it?” Many people judge it by the numbers who accept it, and the question arises, “Have any of the educated men or religious leaders believed?” It is no argument against the truth that large numbers are not ready to accept it, or that it is not received by the world’s great men or even by the religious leaders.HH 213.5

Again some of the rulers argued that if Jesus were left free, He would draw the people away from the established leaders, and the only safe course was to silence Him immediately. In the full tide of their discussion, they were suddenly stopped. Nicodemus questioned, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” Silence fell on the assembly. They could not condemn a man unheard. But the haughty rulers were startled and distressed that one of their own members had been so impressed by Jesus that he would now speak a word in His defense. “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” NRSV.HH 213.6

Yet because of the protest, the rulers were defeated for the time, and “everyone went to his own house.”HH 213.7