John 7:44-49, Division Among the People Continued

44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" 46 The officers answered, "No one ever spoke like this man!" 47 The Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."

There was quite a difference between the Roman guards present in Jerusalem and the officers sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to arrest Jesus. The Romans were brutes, who would carry out their orders without being swayed by what their suspect said. The Jewish officers who failed to arrest Jesus were Levites and more stewards of the Jewish law rather than arresting officers. One might think of them as modern-day deacons sent to establish the facts in some church controversy. They will handle the situation with love and cool heads—hopefully—rather than brutal force.

These Levites were impressed by the teaching of Jesus—“No one has ever spoken this way!” Jesus drew them in and made them reconsider their orders by his incredible teaching and ministry. Reporting back to the chief priests and Pharisees, they received a threefold rebuke. First, they had been deceived by Jesus. To the leaders Jesus is a con artist. Second, they should respect the opinions of their leaders who remain unimpressed by the teachings and ministry of Jesus. And third, the crowd that follows, in their opinion, is uneducated in really understanding the law.

I cannot help but liken this to some of the opinions offered by political commentators on cable news today regarding presidential candidates – on both sides! They say some candidates are deceivers. They are unsupported by the superior-thinking commentators. And the crowds who support them and come to their rallies are uneducated in the real issues. While there is no exact correlation, you can sense from today of the controversy surrounding Jesus in Jerusalem.

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever-walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP p. 100)