John 7:30 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

NIV: At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

NASB: So they were seeking to arrest Him; and yet no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

CSB: Then they tried to seize him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.

NLT: Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.

KJV: Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

NKJV: Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

Several times in the gospel of John, Jesus escapes arrest. The Bible does not give much in the way of details—how exactly Jesus evades capture—but it does give a motivation. Jesus is obedient to God's timetable, and God's timetable is unchangeable. This is not "his hour," which in context means the moment of His ultimate sacrifice. This will come later, as acknowledged by Jesus Himself (John 17:1).

These escapes from arrest might have been through miraculous intervention, especially in moments where Jesus seems to have been physically trapped (John 10:23–24, 39). They may have been mundane, where Jesus simply slipped into the crowd and was lost (John 5:13). Speculation is fine, but at the end of the day, all we really know is that efforts thus far to bring Jesus in have failed.

It's possible that this attempt at arrest was driven by the crowd, since the next few verses mention a specific, separate order from the Pharisees (John 7:32). Jesus has just claimed to have come from God and criticized the people of Israel for not knowing God (John 7:28–29)! This would have offended more than just the religious authorities.

John 7:25–36 is a milestone in the plot to kill Jesus. Jesus continues to criticize the local religious leaders, who are unable to successfully arrest Him. This leads the people to wonder: are the scribes and Pharisees in agreement with Jesus or too weak to stop Him? That crisis of confidence will make the Jewish leaders more convinced that they need to silence Jesus at all costs. Even so, misinterpreting His comments in the passage presents a possible solution: if Jesus is going somewhere they cannot follow, perhaps the problem will resolve itself.

Six months after the feeding of thousands, and the public debate which followed, Jesus plans to attend the Feast of Booths, also called the Festival of Tabernacles. Rather than going publicly, He chooses to arrive privately, and after His family. While teaching and preaching there, Jesus once again comes into conflict with local religious leaders. The crowds take note of His profound words, history of miracles, and the inability of the religious leaders to silence Him. This causes the people to openly question their spiritual leaders. This embarrassment is a milestone in the effort to permanently silence Jesus.

John chapter 7 is the beginning of the end of Jesus' public ministry. The feeding of thousands in chapter 6 was the pinnacle of His earthly popularity. That enthusiasm was dampened when Jesus explained the true meaning of His ministry. Here, in chapters 7 and 8, Jesus will confront His critics at a major Jewish festival, using metaphors drawn from ritual celebrations to highlight themes from His preaching. The following chapters include additional miracles and teachings from Jesus, as His eventual crucifixion draws nearer.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.