John 7: 44-53, Division and Support

Jesus has recently healed a man on the Sabbath and speaking out in temple courts, has drawn the ire of the Jewish leaders.

John 7: 43-49, Guards delayed
Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 
44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 
48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 
49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

Some people think Jesus is a heretic or is blasphemous -- he does makes some outrageous claims! -- and others think he is the Messiah.  But the temple guards are not eager to arrest him; he is not the typical troublemaker.

The Pharisees scold the temple guards for being so concerned about the rabble who "know nothing"!  The guards are told to obey the elite religious leaders, who claim to represent Truth.

John 7: 50-53, Nicodemus expresses support
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 
51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
53 Then they all went home,

Nicodemus, featured in the third chapter of John's gospel, defends Jesus.  Nicodemus simply asks, "Can't we hear him out?" The Pharisees don't respond to the question of Nicodemus.  Instead they ridicule him. That seems to be their standard response to challenges to their authority.

Verse 53 and the first 11 verses of the next chapter are not in the earliest copies of the Gospel of John. They were possibly added at a later date.  The NIV footnotes say that some manuscripts include this material in other places in the gospels, including after John 7:36 or John 21:25 or in the gospel of Luke!