Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Seven

                                                                                                                                              Verses 44-46

One of the most amazing aspects of this story of Jesus at this feast was the fact that the Pharisees, and the other enemies of Jesus, were sitting on ready to arrest Jesus when He came to Jerusalem, but they could not do so. The chief priests and the Pharisees actually sent officers to arrest Jesus, but they could not do it. Apparently, they became so awestruck by the gracious and compassionate sermons of Jesus that they simply could not put their hands on Him. They deliberately disobeyed the orders of the chief priests which happened to be a very dangerous thing to do. One wonders how it was possible that the enemies of Jesus could be so determined to arrest Him, and yet, that did not happen. They did not even ask themselves how that could be possible. The only possible answer to this question was that Jesus did not go to the feast until He had received a message from His Father as to whether or not He would be arrested. Jesus would have gone to the feast even if His Father had told Him that His time had come, but Jesus wanted to know beforehand so that He could prepare Himself. Luke 22:39-44.

                                                                                                                                           Verses 47-49

The Pharisees asked the officers if they had been deceived by Jesus. As many people who attain to some position of wealth and power often do, they thought that if none of the important rulers and Pharisees believed in Jesus, then He could not possibly be the Messiah. They displayed the attitude that all who consider themselves to be elites have toward the common people. They judged the people who were ignorant of the law to be cursed. They held the common people in contempt. They considered themselves to be so wise and good because they knew the law that all whom they considered to be beneath them had to be cursed by God.

Jesus often pointed out their elitism and their hypocrisy to them. Jesus exposed them when He reminded them that they had no trouble leading their ox or ass to water on the Sabbath no matter how far they had to walk, but they were against Jesus healing on the Sabbath. The elites always consider themselves to be above the rules they make for everyone else. Luke 13:10-17; Matthew 23:1-36.