The Pharisees In A Bind (J29)

The Pharisees felt the increasing price,
As the common Jews believed more and more;
“Our leaders are convinced this is the Christ,
Else they would have stopped His teaching before!
But we know from whence this Rabbi has come.”
Jesus answered, “I’m not here on my own;
You do know me, and the place I am from;
Your own Lord sent me; to you, He’s unknown!”
At this, they tried to seize Him; He was gone;
His time had not come, so He slipped away.
Yet, many believed, for none could have done
More signs and wonders than He of that day!
A people’s vote might have made Jesus King,
But the Pharisees controlled ev’rything!

“At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, ‘Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.’ Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.’ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, ‘When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?’ “ (John 7:25-31)

John masterfully describes the high-stakes cat-and-mouse “game” Jesus played against the Pharisees during frequent visits to Jerusalem. Remember, His purposes included (1): Having them put Him to death on the cross, but on an exact pre-determined day that had not yet come; (2) Winning the trust and sincere belief of as many of the common Jews as possible. The Pharisees, on the other hand, wanted to arrest and have Him killed as soon as possible, before a large number of the common Jews believed in Him, but to do it secretly, to keep most of the people unknowing and quiet in their homes. Had the common Jews known they possessed this much power over their leaders, they might have exerted it more fruitfully.

The Jewish people were prone to take violent action into their own hands. Their Roman rulers kept large numbers of armed guards in the temple area especially, because most of the riots that occurred were over religious misunderstandings. Jesus and the Pharisees were aware of this. When Jesus said they didn’t know their own God, but He did know Him who had sent Him, it sparked a violent uproar; they tried to seize Him, but Jesus used His divine power to make Himself invisible and slipped away. He used this technique several times during His ministry. He could have done so the coming night in Gethsemane when He was arrested, but He did not, because the time was right for His arrest, trial, and execution. Now, with the people beginning to say that Jesus must be the Christ (Messiah), it will be interesting to see what happens next.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)