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JOHN 7:48 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 7:47John 7:49
“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?”
Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? — the Pharisees appeal to institutional authority: no one of significance (rulers, Pharisees) has believed, so why should the officers? The argument is that authority and credibility belong to the institutional establishment. Yet the question becomes accusatory against themselves: neither rulers nor Pharisees have believed, revealing their opposition to be willful rejection rather than rational judgment. By 7:50-51, Nicodemus (a ruler) will defend Jesus, creating the first crack in institutional solidarity.

Church Fathers on John 7:48

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
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John 7:48 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy