Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. John 7:44
The chief priests and Pharisees sent some officers to arrest Jesus (7:32). They probably said, “We want you to bring him in, but we don’t want any trouble. Mix in with the crowd and wait for the right time to arrest him. But be careful, we don’t want a riot.” Not to mention the fact that they were trying to take a man into custody who had overpowered a legion of demons, calmed a storm, and raised the dead.
Now put yourself in the shoes of these officers. You arrive at the temple and see a crowd gathered around Jesus. The first thing you hear Jesus say is, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come” (7:33-34). His intrinsic authority strikes you.
These officers worked for the religious establishment. They would have provided security for many gatherings where the scribes and Pharisees spoke. They would have heard the usual diet of pious words: “Do this. Don’t do that.” But Jesus is different, He speaks with authority.
They come back the next day and hear Jesus say, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (7:37-38). And one of the officers says, “We are not going to lay a hand on him.”
So they go back and report to their bosses, the Pharisees, who say to them, “Why did you not bring him?” (7:45). And then we read this remarkable testimony from the officers: “No one ever spoke like this man!” (7:46). That took great courage.
The reason no one ever spoke like this man is that Jesus is more than a man. He is the Son of God. He is God with us and He has the words of eternal life.
Where do you need to exercise this kind of courage?
