John 7:32 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.

NIV: The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

NASB: The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Him.

CSB: The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent servants to arrest him.

NLT: When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest Jesus.

KJV: The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

NKJV: The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.

Jesus' actions have already created problems for the religious leaders of Jerusalem. His recent public preaching has made the crowds of Jerusalem question their leaders' authority. Since Jesus has already been marked for death (John 5:18), but is currently teaching in the open, the people are curious. Do the religious leaders lack the resolve to deal with Jesus or do they now believe what He is saying (John 7:25–26)? Even worse, for the religious authorities, some people are willing to openly defend Jesus as the Promised One, based on His miracles (John 7:31).

As a result, the Pharisees send a group of official peacekeepers to arrest Jesus. As with other attempts explained in the Gospels, this effort to seize Jesus will fail. In certain incidents, this failure has a supernatural feeling to it (John 10:24, 39). In others, Jesus most likely blends into the crowd and leaves (John 5:13). He may also be protected by the presence of a sympathetic throng (Matthew 21:46).

Here, however, the reason Jesus remains free is perhaps the most surprising. Despite being sent to arrest Him, the men who hear Him find His words so perplexing that they will leave Him be (John 7:44–46). This may have been because they found Him persuasive or because they interpret His words to mean He plans to leave the area (John 7:33–36). It may even be that the Pharisees described Jesus in extreme terms, and the officers were confused to find a peaceful man with a peaceful following. This enrages the Pharisees who sent them (John 7:47–49).

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.