Instead, what are the people relying on? They are relying on fables. They are relying on the traditions that the Messiah would just suddenly materialize and there He would be.
This is in here I am sure at least partly to help us understand that when these people were confronted by the very embodiment of truth—Christ—there was confusion from one end of Judea to the other. Jesus said, "I am truth." Every word that came out of His mouth was truth, every action, every piece of conduct, all of His behavior, everything that He did, reflected the glory of God, which is truth. Call it skepticism, a perversity of human nature that wants us to reject the truth of God. Of course as we are seeing from God's own Scripture another truth that it carries right through baptism and it is going to have to be dealt with by us.
Look at all the opinions that people held about Him. In Matthew 16 Jesus asks Peter, Who do men say that I am? His answer is, Some say You are John the Baptist. Others say You are Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. There was much confusion regarding His identity!
If He cannot be clearly identified, how can He possibly be worshipped? How can people possibly say that they see Him - that is, in the sense of comprehending or understanding that He is an absolutely vital part of our lives? For you and me, He is so vital! He is in us, and He is interested in every aspect of our lives.
