45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to
them, “Why have you not brought Him?” 46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” 47 Then the
Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any
of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this
crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night,
being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him
and knows what he is doing?” 52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look,
for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.” 53 And everyone went to his own house.
Commentary
Vs. 45-46 45 Then the
officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have
you not brought Him?” 46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke
like this Man!”
Now the officers who were previously sent to arrest Jesus, (John
7:32), now return to chief priests and Pharisees who sent them. However, Jesus
is not with them! For when the officers heard Jesus speak, they were afraid to
arrest Him. Therefore, when being questioned by the chief priests and Pharisees
as to why they did not arrest Him, they said to them, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” Thus, the fear
of God had fallen on them!
Vs. 47-49 47 Then the
Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees
believed in Him? 49 But this
crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
The Pharisees though know no such fear, and so rather then
heading their own officers’ frightful intuition about Jesus’ Person, Authority
and Power, they only scold them, saying, … “Are you
also deceived? 48 Have any
of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?” vs. 47-48 Thus in
their self-deceived pride and arrogance they attribute only to themselves the
ability to righty discern as to who Jesus’ Person is, therefore, whatever Jesus
said or did would never convince them to believe in Him, because they had
already rejected Him. And so, in their frustration at not having their evil
done and Jesus arrested, they now call the crowd, the very people whom they
teach and lead, accursed! Saying they do not know the law! and yet they have
enough sensibilities to perceive the One who gave it, while those Pharisees and
rulers of the people are only blind to Him, even while working in accordance
with the Law right before them!
Vs. 50-53 50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night,
being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him
and knows what he is doing?” 52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and
look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.” 53 And everyone went to his own house.
Nicodemus though a Pharisee was not being swayed by his
piers desires to reject and condemn Jesus Person, for as the Scripture notes he
had already spoken with Jesus privately, and it was there that Jesus shared
with him (and us all) the need to be born again to enter the Kingdom of heaven (read
John 3). And so, Nicodemus though not yet a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ
was certainly not hostile or antagonistic towards Him, (as were his piers), but
was more and more beginning to believe in Him. Thus, Nicodemus having heard the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself, now rebukes his own piers for not even listening to
Jesus’ Words unbiasedly and examining Him and His works justly, by saying to
them, “Does our law judge a man
before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” vs. 51 However they
have neither the desire nor the patience to consider the Lord Jesus Christ’s
Words and Works, for once again by their own preconceived notions of what the
Messiah should be and do they reject Christ and now Nicodemus’ counsel and
harshly criticize him, saying to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and
look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.” vs. 52 However in
saying that they themselves in their rage against Jesus (and now all sound
counsel) are wrong! For Jonah the prophet arose from Galilee, and later it
would be him that Jesus would cite to them as pre-cursor evidence of His own
Resurrection from the dead (see Matt. 12:38-45, vs. 40). Verse 53 then rightly
ends by saying that everyone went to their own house, for just as those who truly
believe will not be swayed otherwise, neither will those who are hardened and do
not believe be convinced to repent and believe!
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
No comments:
Post a Comment