7:45,46
The Chief Priests and Pharisees had evidently sent the officers (including guards and religious officials) and were rather annoyed that they had not actually arrested Jesus. The command was easy to give from afar, but quite difficult to fulfil in practice. For when the officers had met Jesus they had been amazed at Him. He was no ordinary man. In their case it was the way that He spoke that had impacted them. Note that miracles are not always the best way to impress people, and their effect can be quite transitory. The lasting miracle is a change of heart. Jesus had spoken quite differently from anyone else. Elsewhere it is noted that He spoke with authority (Matt 7:29). Remember they were hearing the very words of God! Imagine what it will be like when Jesus returns and everyone hears His voice. Every protesting tongue will be silenced on that day.
7:47-49
The Pharisees were not impressed, accusing the officials of being deceived. They then try to draw them back to look at the authority of the Pharisees, such as it was. This was the crux of the issue. The religious leaders were opposed to Jesus and failed to see who He was because they were more concerned with protecting their own position. Pride and sin blind us to the truth. They also spoke disparagingly of the crowds. The Pharisees had a very high opinion of themselves, and an equally low opinion of the common people, often referring to them as “people of the land”. They were loathe to mix with the common people for fear of being made unclean. Of course, the truth was that the Pharisees themselves did not really know the Law and were themselves unclean.
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