John 7:47 — Community Reflections

JOHN 7:47 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?”

Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? — the Pharisees respond with scorn and suspicion, suggesting the officers have been deceived by Jesus. The question implies that anyone accepting Jesus's claim must be foolish or bewitched. Yet their dismissal masks fear: the officers' testimony demonstrates that Jesus has power over human hearts that institutional authority cannot control. The Pharisees' sarcasm becomes a kind of self-exposure—they are frightened of a power that appeals to truth rather than force.

Church Fathers on John 7:47

Our Lord having invited those, who believed in Him, to drink of the Holy Spirit, a dissension arose among the multitude: Many of the people therefore, when they heart these saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
Augustine · 4th century

The one, that is, who was expected. Others, i.e. the people said, This is the Christ.
Theophylact · 11th century

These had now begun to drink in that spiritual thirst, and had laid aside the unbelieving thirst. But others still remained dried up in their unbelief: 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? They knew what were the predictions of the Prophets respecting Christ, but knew not that they all were fulfilled in Him. They knew that He had been brought up…
Alcuin · 8th century

Read all 28 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a reflection on this verse

No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!