Why Have You Not Brought Him? - John 7:45

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 some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him”, and in chapter seven and verse forty-five of his book, John shared how the chief priests and Pharisees ask the officers, “why have you not brought him?” where we read:

Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees;

and they said unto them, Why have you not brought him?

The verse reads, “Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees;” John began with the words, “then came the officers” or “at that time arose and appeared the attendants of the magistrates who executed penalties” “to the chief priests” which means “to the high priests” “and Pharisees” or “and the members of the sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile. In addition to Old Testament books the Pharisees recognized in oral tradition a standard of belief and life”. John shared how the “servants of the magistrates” appeared before the “high priests” and members of the religious group known as the “Pharisees”.

The verse goes on to say, “and they said unto them, Why have you not brought him?” John continued with the words, “and they said unto them” which means “and the high priests and Pharisees uttered, declared, proclaimed and asked the officers”, “why have you not” or “for what reason and cause have you officers not” “brought him” which means “laid hold of, captured and seized Jesus”? John shared how the “high priests and Pharisees” asked the “officers” why they did not “seize” Jesus.

When we think through John's words in this verse, we learn how there were actually “officers” sent by the “high priests and Pharisees” to “capture” Jesus. They did not “seize” Him, and we shall see why in our next verse, however, this shows us how determined these religious leaders were to stop Jesus. God sent His Son Jesus into the world to “save” people from their sins, but there were people who did not believe and trust in Him. These religious leaders wanted Jesus dead, and because Jesus was determined to bring “forgiveness of sins” and everlasting life to all who believe and trust in Him, He continued His ministry even while “religious leaders” were attempting to “capture” Him. Those who are wise will carefully consider Jesus' words and actions and realize He was indeed the “Savior and Lord” of the world.

Next time John shares how officers say, “never man spoke like this man”, 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".