The origin of Jesus: V. 25. Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this He whom they seek to kill? V. 26. But, lo, He speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? V. 27. Howbeit we know this man whence He is; but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence He is.
A diversion was created at this point by the inquiry of some local people that may have come upon the scene at that moment. They were surprised at Christ's teaching so openly. He was surely the man whom the chief men in the nation had sought to kill and were even then planning to put out of the way. The inference was that the rulers had been convinced as to the truth of Christ's claims and were reconsidering their intention of putting Him to death.
But this idea, in turn, is dismissed, as the babblers continue to express their conviction that they knew the origin of this man who was teaching before them; but concerning the Christ, the Messiah, the supposition had gained ground that no one would know whence He would come.
This idea was due to a misunderstanding of some Old Testament passages referring to the eternity of the Messiah and to sections of apocryphal literature which were circulating among the Jews in those days. In this man Jesus they saw nothing miraculous. His powerful testimony of His heavenly origin they did not believe, and the miracles which He did in healing the sick were insignificant in their eyes.
Their position is shared by a great many modern critics, the foolishness of whose reason renders them just as blind.