At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?”
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
The enemies of Jesus had tried repeatedly to seize him. Yet the Gospel of John reminds us again and again that no one could seize Jesus until he offered himself up to them. Jesus followed God’s timetable just as carefully as he obeyed his Father’s will. So we can know with assurance that when Jesus died, he did so to redeem us and obey his Father’s will, not because he was powerless to defend himself. Jesus’ death is a voluntary sacrifice, a triumph of his obedience to his Father’s will over his own will for preservation. He obeyed and we are saved! He offered himself as a sacrifice so we could be adopted into the Father’s family!