No Man Laid Hands on Jesus - John 7:44

The apostle John wrote, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the scripture said, That Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him”, and in chapter seven and verse forty-four of his book, John shared how, “some of them would have taken him” where we read:

And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.

The verse reads, “And some of them would have taken him;” John began with the words, “and some of them” or “and a few or small number of the Jewish leaders” “would have taken him” which means “would have laid hold of, captured and seized Jesus”. John shared how “a few” of the “religious leaders” desired to “capture and seize” Jesus.

The verse continues, “but no man laid hands on him.” John added the words, “but no man” which means “however, nonetheless, notwithstanding and moreover not any person” “laid hands on him” or “stretched forth their physical hands upon Jesus”. John shared how not one person attempted to “stretch forth” their physical hands upon Jesus.

When we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we learn how the fervor among the religious leaders had risen to the point they desired to “capture” Jesus. Though no one actually did, the religious leaders were passionate about “seizing” Jesus. Jesus threatened their position among the people, and when He performed miracles and spoke words they could not, they wanted Him gone. God desires to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they submit to Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive their sins and grant them everlasting life. Let all who desire to “capture” Jesus reconsider their desire.

Next time John shares how officers say, “why have you not brought him?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".