“This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!”
John 7:49 (NLT)
The temple guards were ordered to arrest Jesus, yet they returned without Him. When confronted, they simply said they had never heard anyone speak like Jesus. The response of the guards reveals they saw clearly while the Pharisees, who claimed to see, were spiritually blind. The guards heard Jesus’ words without offense, without resistance, and something in them recognized the truth.
The Pharisees rebuked what should have been praised. They called the believing crowd foolish, ignorant, and cursed. But Jesus had already promised that all who believe in Him receive eternal life. The crowd wasn’t cursed—they were saved. They knew Jesus better than they knew the law, and that was enough.
Paul explains this in Romans 10:1–4. Israel had zeal, but it was misdirected. They clung to their own way of trying to be right with God rather than accepting God’s way—believing in Christ. The Pharisees refused to see that the whole purpose of the law was to lead them to the Savior standing right in front of them.
Their pride even caused them to ignore their own Scriptures. They claimed no prophet came from Galilee, but Jonah was from Galilee, and Isaiah 9 prophesied Messiah’s ministry there. They were willing to break the law to supposedly protect it, proving their zeal was truly blindness.
The guards saw Jesus clearly. The Pharisees did not. Faith always gives sight where pride produces blindness.