John 7:28-30

V. 28. Then cried Jesus in the Temple as He taught, saying, Ye both know Me, and ye know whence I am; and I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, whom ye know not. V. 29. But I know Him; for I am from Him, and He hath sent Me.

V. 30. Then they sought to take Him; but no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come.

Jesus, in the midst of this excited babel of voices, purposely cried out loudly at this point, to attract attention to Himself and to His words. For the sake of getting their interest, He places Himself on their side. They thought they knew where He was from; a bit of scornful irony. Their entire ideas concerning the Messiah were indistinct and hazy, and just as foolish were their conjectures as to His origin.

They should know that Jesus did not presume upon the mission which He is now trying to fulfill. It is in truth and beyond all doubt God that sent Him. But of the essence of this God, the heavenly Father, they had not the faintest idea in spite of all their boasting. He that does not know the Son cannot understand the essence of the Father. Jesus is well acquainted with the Father, for He has His ministry, His ambassadorship, from Him.

For the Jews to draw this conclusion from their knowledge of Christ's origin that He was a self-constituted prophet and therefore not the Messiah, is to make the biggest mistake that is possible in the wide world.

This frank statement again made the Jews angry; they sought to seize Him; their hands fairly itched to be laid upon Him in revenging fury. But they were held back by a power that made their hands lame, for the hour of Jesus bad not yet come. The time when He should enter into the glory of His Father by the path of suffering and death was not yet at hand.

The enemies of Christ can do nothing unless God gives them permission.