February 13, 2023 – Monday
John 7:30-31 NIV
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”
Comments
The Him is obviously Jesus, but who is trying to seize Him and why? The who are the officers of the Pharisees. The rulers wanted Him dead because He had healed a man on the Sabbath (John 5:16). But it was all hypocrisy as He points out in v23-24 of this chapter, 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly. And the people knew the rulers wanted Jesus dead for v25 tells us, 25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?
However, 30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Jesus and His Father remain in charge. Jesus would not give Himself over to the authorities until His time had come as it does in John 12:23, 23 Jesus replied, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. But now, now 31a Still, many in the crowd believed in him. Jesus, knowing the Pharisees wanted Him arrested, He still spoke and preached boldly to the people and many of them were moved to faith in Him. This is remarkable as they knew He was opposed and that the Pharisees wanted Him dead.
Those that believed in Him said, 31b When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” They had been awed and astonished at the signs He did. Their question was rhetorical in nature because they did not believe the Messiah could do more than Jesus, so they were led to believe Jesus was indeed the Messiah. No matter what the people believed, the Pharisees could not endure such a thought.
Here we see evil in direct conflict with faith in the man Jesus who has demonstrated over and over that what He does could not be done without God. Those who saw what He did, they believed. Then there were those who saw what He did and could not permit themselves to understand what His miracles and wonders really meant. Because of the above question and the growing belief in this man Jesus, the Sanhedrin sought all the more to repress such beliefs. He had to be stopped. And that is why in v32 we read, 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
And on the last day of the festival Jesus spoke in a loud voice, 37 Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. Many believed but many still had questions. Still, at the end of the day, 45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” 46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. They had heard Him in person. Their reply makes me think they too came to believe.
Bottom Line: We are blessed to be able to ‘hear’ Him in person as well through our Bibles and it is no wonder so many jump into the Bible to disprove Jesus, end up believing.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for enabling John to remember so much of what happened for us to read about and consider. The words speak of such wonderful boldness by Jesus even knowing He was going to the cross as a ransom for our sins if we would but repent and believe. Thank You for this wonderful gift of Grace. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek