Bible Study series: John 7:45-52. They did not arrest him, as noted in another post. The officers were so amazed at his teaching that they did not bring him in.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: John 7:45-52
45 So then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, these latter said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 They replied, “A man has never spoken like this!” 47 So the Pharisees replied to them, “You too have not been deceived, have you? 48 Has anyone of the rulers believed in him or of the Pharisees? 49 But this crowd not knowing the law is cursed!” 50 Nicodemus, the one who came before, because he was one of them, said to them, 51 Our law does not judge the man if it does not first hear from him and find out what he is doing, does it?” 52 In reply, they told him, “Are you also from Galilee? No? Search and see that a prophet is not raised up from Galilee!” 53 And they went each one to his own house.(John 7:45-52)
Comments
45:
John takes up where he left on v. 32. The chief priests and Pharisees sent the officers to arrest Jesus. For the identity of these two groups, see v. 32 and please click on this link:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
These two groups wondered why the officers disobeyed the order. Reasonable question. The answer the officers give, however, anger the rulers in the next verse.
46:
So the officers were stunned into inaction because they were deeply impressed with his teaching, and no doubt, with his demeanor and Spirit coming from him. In any case, the Father must have worked so deeply in their hearts through the teaching of Jesus and the power of the Spirit in his Son that they sat down and listened to him. They were commissioned to arrest, him, but they found that his teaching and demeanor and Spirit arrested them. They could not obey their orders. Remember v. 30, which says no one arrested him because it was not his hour.
47-49:
Now the chief priests and Pharisees go from the greater to the lesser argument. (If Hercules cannot pick up the rock, then a baby cannot pick it up.)
Greater = the rulers (Sanhedrin) and Pharisees
Lesser = officers and the people
If the greater and wiser do not believe in Jesus, then how could the officers and the people (crowds) believe in him? Reason: the officers don’t know the law as well as the leaders do and have lesser status. As for the people not knowing the law, they are cursed. The words drip with condescension and a big sneer. The rulers looked down on them. Mounce references a citation from Rabbi Hillel that no member of the common people is pious (m. ‘Abot. 2:5). The School of Rabbi Meir said that it was difficult to distinguish between people of the land and animals (comment on vv. 48-49).
In later Judaism, “deceived” and “deceiver” indicate the heretic and the one who misled the devout Jew (Klink, comment on v. 47).
The rulers were probably the Sanhedrin, the highest court and council in Judaism. For more information about them, click on the link under v. 45.
50-51:
Now Nicodemus steps forward and defends Jesus. He spoke to Jesus back in John 3 and was sympathetic to him. Their law does not allow them to judge a man if it (the law) does not hear the man first and learn what his activities are. In the next verse the rulers attack Nicodemus personally. Personal attacks “have always been the last resort of the desperate (Mounce, comment on v. 52).
52:
The rulers could have replied that they were intending to find out what his activities were, but this answer would not be honest because they were intending to kill him after a show trial, and Nicodemus perceived that this is was their intention.
And the establishment was wrong on the biblical facts. Elijah came from Galilee—Gilead lay east of the Jordan River. Jonah, the one who went to Nineveh, was from Gath Hepher, a few miles north of Nazareth in Galilee (2 Kings 14:25) (HT: Klink, comment on v. 52). Mounce cites Rabbi Eliezer (b. Sukkah 27b) who said that there was no region from which a prophet did not come (comment on v. 52). Some scholars try to repair the establishment’s errors, but it is best to see them as being blinded by their anger and discrediting Jesus.
On the other hand, Greek manuscripts offer the alternative “the prophet” (Deut. 18:15). In this case, the establishment was still reacting angrily, which caused them to misjudge. No one knew where the prophet would emerge. It could have been in Galilee. The establishment (mis)understood the Bible. To them, a prophet (or the prophet) was not “raised up” from Galilee.
The rulers were victims of irony (see v. 27). The verb means “raised up” or “lifted up”; it is often used of the resurrection (John 2:19, 22; 5:21;12:1, 9, 17; 21:14). Little did they know that a prophet (though he is more than a prophet) from Galilee is about to be “raised up” (resurrected).
53:
They did not know what to do, after their shouting match. So a temporary truce was called. So they went, each one, to his own house. Implied: until a more opportune time was available to them to arrest him.
GrowApp for John 7:45-52
1. Has any religious person looked down on you? How did you respond?
2. Jesus’s teaching captivated the temple officers. How has Jesus stopped your rebellion and captivated you?
RELATED
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12. Eyewitness Testimony in John’s Gospel
4. Church Fathers and John’s Gospel
3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel
SOURCES
For the bibliography, click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 